The U.S. dollar has now been appreciating for over a week against the ruble. The dollar climbed steadily from its August 14 level of 25.47 rubles, reaching 25.9 rubles earlier Wednesday.
Vedomosti said the Central Bank's interventions on the forex market were aimed at preventing the national currency from falling below the 25.9 mark.
The paper said that while experts continue to disagree over the role of the ruble's steady rise in recent years in Russian monetary authorities' efforts to fight inflation, foreign investors are selling Russian stocks and buying U.S. Treasury bonds due to the liquidity crisis on global financial markets.
Experts give different estimates on the amount of foreign currency sold by the Central Bank to support the national currency, Vedomosti said.
Konstantin Malov, the Industrial Savings Bank's treasury chief, estimated the volume of intervention at not less than $2 billion, while traders at MDM Bank said the national banking regulator had sold $3 billion, Vedomosti said.
However, experts say the ruble is expected to appreciate again against the dollar before the end of the year. Capital inflow in Russia will be resumed, the situation on global financial markets will change, political uncertainty on the eve of the presidential elections in Russia next year will disappear, and Russian stocks will strengthen, Vedomosti quoted Deutsche Bank UFG's Chief Economist, Yaroslav Lissovolik as saying.
