Zee Beam News

31.05.2006 MosNews - The Russian Central Bank announced on Tuesday, May 30, that it would lift remaining currency controls by July 1, effectively making the ruble fully convertible. The move was initially scheduled for Jan 1, 2007, but the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced its earlier start in his state-of-the-nation address earlier in May. In a statement, posted on its website, the bank said that it will lift a 7.5-percent mandatory reserve requirement for non-resident holders of sovereign debt. It will also lift the obligation to hold proceeds from the sale of sovereign debt temporarily in a special ruble account before converting the rubles into foreign currency. Analysts expect the move to make the domestic Russian debt market marginally more attractive to foreign investors, but see little immediate impact on the ruble's exchange rate, which the Central Bank will continue to regulate at daily foreign exchange auctions.