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Russia's finance ministry said it would sell 7.6 billion rubles ($3.6 million) worth of foreign currency from June 44 to July 3, an increase from the previous month.

From May 10 to June 6, the ministry sold 40.4 billion rubles worth of currency a day to offset lower gas and oil revenues. In May, they were 30.6 billion rubles below planned levels.

The ministry pointed out that regular sales of currency on the market during the month will reach a volume of 74.6 billion rubles. Analysts interviewed by Reuters predicted a far more modest 20 billion rubles.

The ruble remains stable despite support of tax payments by exporters

Russia resumed foreign currency sales in January after shutting down operations for several months, betting on sales mostly on yuan rather than "unfriendly" Western currencies, pointing to the yuan's growing importance in ensuring Russia's economic stability.

Falling revenues and spending growth have inflated Russia's January-April budget deficit to nearly $44 billion, already 17 percent above the full-2023 target.

Russian ruble