According to Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin, the Ministry of Finance’s operations on the currency market will not alter the current trend in the rouble exchange rate, which will remain floating, Prime reports.

“It is important to understand that the Ministry of Finance will not alter the current trend. We are working within a long-term strategy to reduce the influence of oil prices on the volatility of all internal indicators, including the exchange rate”, Oreshkin told journalists.

According to Oreshkin, the rouble exchange rate will remain floating, and subject to movements in either direction.

“It is understood that the rate may change. In the last week it has become stronger. This may be seen as an opportunity, for example, for importers to hedge their future currency purchases, among other things”, he noted.

In mid-January, the Ministry of Finance announced that it would be entering the currency market to minimize the dependency of the rouble exchange rate on volatile oil prices. The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank said at the time that the influence of these operations on the rouble would be neutral. Every trading day from February 7 to March 6, the Ministry of Finance will buy currency on the internal market equivalent to RUB 6.3 billion, using all of the additional oil and gas income from the February budget, which is forecast at RUB 113.1 billion.