MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: The decisions to conduct federal loan bonds (OFZ) auctions will be made considering the market environment to facilitate the process of market stabilization, Russia’s Finance Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"Taking into account high volatility on financial markets, the decisions to conduct OFZ auctions will be made considering the market environment for facilitating the process of market stabilization and preventing excessive pressure on the debt market," the statement said.
"Reduction of borrowings below planned parameters may be offset by other sources of financing budget deficit, particularly the federal budget account balance," the ministry added.
The Federal Treasury’s funds on accounts with the Central Bank of Russia (excluding additional oil and gas revenues), as well as on bank accounts and those supplied through repo transactions, amounted to 4.2 trillion rubles ($56.9 bln) as of March 1, 2020, according to the statement.
The ministry noted that to offset the reduction in the size of OFZ offering, extra oil and gas budget revenues will be used, which might be received if the ruble exchange rate weakens below the projected level (65.7 rubles per dollar this year).
