Russia to Boost Currency Sales to Offset Energy Revenue Drop (2)

Russia will almost triple the amount of foreign currency it plans to sell through early March as energy revenues plunge amid mounting restrictions on exports.

The Finance Ministry said Friday it will sell 160.2 billion rubles ($2.3 billion) during the Feb. 7-March 6 period under a budgetary mechanism aimed at insulating the economy from the ups and downs in oil prices.

With the bulk of its international reserves frozen by US and European sanctions, the yuan is the main asset Russia can still use to conduct sales from its wealth fund to cover spending.

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