“The Bank of Russia has decided not to purchase foreign currency on the domestic market as part of the implementation of the budget rule mechanism for 30 days,” the message said.
The decision was made "in order to increase the predictability of the monetary authorities and reduce the volatility of financial markets in the face of significant changes in the global oil market."
At the same time, the decision to resume operations with currency under the budget rule will be made during March.
The Bank of Russia added that they are monitoring the market situation and are ready to use additional tools in order to maintain financial stability.
On March 9, oil prices fell 30% amid the collapse of the OPEC + deal. Following this, the ruble depreciated against the dollar to 72.5 and to the euro to 82.7.