03 June 2004 09:54
Rouble gets stronger, dollar less popular in Russia - Central Bank chief
"The dynamics of the real effective rouble [exchange] rate came to a halt abruptly in May and totalled 6 per
cent in January-May 2004," RIA news agency quoted the chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, Sergey Ignatyev, as
saying when addressing the 13th International Banking Congress in St Petersburg on 3 May.
The Central Bank still has a good opportunity to implement the main goals of the monetary policy and to prevent the
real effective rouble rate from strengthening by over 7 per cent a year. A rise in oil duties will help reach this goal,
Ignatyev added.
A tendency of less dollars circulating in Russia continues in 2004, he said.
The volume of dollars possessed by the public dropped by 3.5bn dollars in the first quarter of 2004, Ignatyev
said.
In 2003, this volume went down by 6.6bn dollars, he added.
Inflation totalled 5.3 per cent in January-May 2004 against 7.1 per cent in the same period in 2003, ITAR-TASS quoted
Ignatyev as saying.
Sources:
RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0544 gmt and 0550 gmt 3 Jun 04
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0607 gmt 3 Jun 04
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