ST. PETERSBURG, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - The growth of Russia's monetary base was 20.3% in the first five months of 2007 against 10.7% in the same period last year, the chief of the Central Bank told an international banking congress Thursday.
Sergei Ignatyev said: "Russia's monetary base increased 20.3% from January 1 to 10.8 trillion rubles ($418 billion) as of June 1."
Ignatyev said as of June 1, 2007 the monetary base (M2) grew 61.7% in the past 12 months against 42.8% compared to the previous year.
The country's chief banker said the faster growth rates followed a sharp capital inflow and as a result, a rise in Russia's international reserves.
Ignatyev said his bank would not change the structure of the country's international reserves, in which the dollar, the euro and the British pound account for about 50%, 40% and 10%, respectively.
"The shares have fluctuated about 1%-2% in the past year," Ignatyev said.
