Russian central bank eases caps on banks’ open foreign currency positions

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank said on Sunday it was temporarily easing restrictions on banks’ open foreign currency positions after the West decided to block certain Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT international payment system over the fighting in Ukraine.

The measure, allowing banks suffering from “external circumstances” to keep positions above the official limits, will be in place until July 1, it said in a statement.

The central bank said that it would continue to monitor changes in currency positions “in order to guarantee the normal functioning of the currency and money markets and the financial stability of lending institutions”.

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by David Clarke)