MOSCOW- Russia's finance ministry is expected to ease its selling of foreign currency from state reserves to the equivalent of $1.1 billion in August following a rise in the price of oil, Russia's key export, a Reuters survey showed on Monday.
The finance ministry is set to announce its selling plan for the month ahead on Wednesday at 0900 GMT.
The median forecast from a survey of eight analysts suggested Russia would sell 80 billion roubles ($1.09 billion)worth of foreign currency from its state reserves between Aug. 7 and Sept. 4 under its fiscal rule.
Individual forecasts ranged from 46 billion roubles to 110 billion roubles.
Daily selling is expected to fall to the equivalent of 3.8 billion roubles, according to Reuters estimates.
In the previous period, between July 8 and Aug. 6, the ministry had planned to sell 125.6 billion roubles, or 5.7 billion roubles a day.
State FX sales have helped the rouble weather the financial market storm since March, limiting losses in the Russian currency amid a slump in oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
($1 = 73.6750 roubles)
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Alexander Marrow) ((andrey.ostroukh@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 1242;))
