An action is reported by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation toward stable currency-exchange ratios between the ruble and other major currencies, and potentially connected to domestic infrastructure investment. Bloomberg News Sept. 2 reported from sources “familiar with the matter” that a strategic plans meeting on Aug. 30 involving government ministers, together with officials of the Central Bank including its Governor Elvira Nabiullina, gave initial approval to a plan to use up to $70 billion equivalent in ruble current account surplus, to purchase other “friendly currencies” led by the Chinese renminbi, or yuan. This would lower the ruble’s value against these friendly currencies—which also include, according to Bloomberg’s account, the South African rand, the U.A.E. dirham, the Turkish lira among others. It would link the Russian Central Bank’s large holdings of renminbi to the renminbi reserve fund of roughly $25 billion equivalent already being formed by the People’s Bank of China and six other Asian central banks.
Furthermore, the plan discussed at the Aug. 30 meeting reported by Bloomberg’s sources was for Russia to use the RMB it accumulates in this way, as the source of credit for infrastructure building in Russia, in particular the new development corridors typified by the International North-South Transport Corridor from St. Petersburg to Mumbai. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-01/russia-mulls-buying-70-billion-in-yuan-friendly-currencies )
