Russian rouble weakens against US dollar after state forex purchases cut

MOSCOW, Oct 3 (Reuters) – The Russian rouble weakened slightly against the U.S. dollar and, more significantly, against China's yuan on Friday, reacting to a planned reduction in the state's foreign currency purchases for the coming month. The Russian Finance Ministry said earlier that it would cut its foreign currency sales to 0.6 billion roubles ($7.36 million) a day from October 7 to November 7, from 1.4 billion roubles a day previously. The move will cut the state's overall daily net forex sales, which combine forex operations by the ministry and the central bank, to 9.54 billion roubles a day from October 7, from 10.34 billion roubles a day previously. The central bank buys and sells foreign exchange to ensure a steady supply on the domestic market and on behalf of the finance ministry, which runs the National Wealth Fund, denominated in foreign currency. The central bank has been a net seller of foreign currency throughout 2025, supporting the rouble, which has rallied by 45% against the dollar since the start of the year. The central bank currently accounts for about 10% of all daily trade in yuan. The rouble weakened by 0.3% to 82.30 to the dollar by 0900 GMT, according to over-the-counter trade data from LSEG. It weakened by 1.2% to 11.47 against China's yuan at the Moscow Stock Exchange, where yuan is the most traded foreign currency. "The reduction in forex sales could contribute to a downward correction of the rouble as soon as a trigger arises, and the likelihood of negative events amid tense geopolitical conditions and unstable macroeconomic data is quite high," said Natalya Milchakova from Freedom Finance. "In our view, the rouble may depreciate further in October following the release of inflation data for September and inflation expectations for October," she added. (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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