Bank forced banks to buy foreign currency – RBC

Photo: Yekaterina Kuzmina / RBC

The dollar and the euro began to go up on the Moscow stock exchange in the middle of the day. Dollar reached maximum at around 53.69 rubles., While the euro – at the level of 57.7 rubles. The growth of the dollar and the euro was accompanied by a significant increase in the volume of trading on the Exchange. “There is an active buying currency”, – said a trader at RBC of the investment banks.

The dollar began to rise, after it became known that the Central Bank increased from 21 April 2015 the minimum interest rates on foreign currency repo auction (foreign currency loans made to the Central Bank to banks against securities) at 0.5-0.75 percentage points For loans in foreign currency for up to 28 days Central Bank set a minimum rate Libor plus 2 percentage points on loans for the year rate will be Libor plus 2.5 percentage points.

Prior to this controller has twice raised rates for loans in foreign currency. March 30 the Central Bank increased the interest rates on foreign currency repo by 0.5 percentage points (Libor plus 1 percentage point), and on April 13 raised the cost of an additional 0.5 percentage points.

Since March, the cost of borrowing in foreign currency to banks increased by several times. In March, banks could borrow at the Central Bank currency for a week at a rate of 0.6-0.7% in April, according to weekly repo rate rose to 1.75%. A repo rate for one year during the same period increased by 2.2 times, to 2.67%. According to the analyst “Uralsib Capital” Irina Lebedeva, raising interest rates on foreign currency Repo gives a clear signal to the market that the dollar below 50 rubles. not satisfied with the Central Bank. “Apparently, the players decided to just fix the current exchange rate by buying the currency on the market” – says the analyst.

«Banks need to refinance its debt to the Central Bank. If at auctions repo rates are rising, the banks buy the currency market “, – said the chief economist at Alfa Bank, Natalia Orlova. According to her, the Bank seeks to recruit more dollars and euros at an attractive rate, fearing that the regulator will less to give currency to the economy.

The deputy chairman of the bank «Revival” Andrew Shalimov, in contrast, argues that the demand for currency is not very big. «But it is possible that those banks which are credited to the Central Bank, because of fears that this resource will soon exhaust itself started otkupat dollars from the market”, – he added.

On Monday, the players automatically triggered sell orders rubles. «Such a sharp reversal of the market suggests that the strengthening of the ruble had a strong speculative component” – said the head Dealing Center Metalinvestbanka Sergey Romanchuk .

Trader “discovery” Sergei Fishgoyt adds that since last week, investors in anticipation of reducing the rate of the Central Bank began to get rid of the ruble-denominated debt securities. “Sitting in the OFZ under 11% now unprofitable,” – he states. In addition, according to the trader, due to a fall in yields on ruble instruments and growth rates on foreign currency Repo become less attractive speculation carry trade.