Russia Tightens Rules to Favor Friendly Countries’ Currencies for Banks’ Foreign Asset Adjustments

On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Russia set new rules to stimulate Russian banks to adjust their activities in foreign exchange in favor of the currencies of countries that Moscow considers “friends”, starting from April 1st.

In a statement, the central bank said the required reserve rate for currencies of “hostile” countries will be 7.5%, while the rate for currencies of friendly countries will be 5.5%, according to Reuters.

Russia classifies the United States, the European Union countries and a group of other countries that have imposed sanctions on it as “hostile” countries.