Page 58 - RusRPTApr20

5.2.2 Current account dynamics
According to a preliminary estimate of the Bank of Russia, the current account surplus of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation in January-February 2020 decreased to $16.0bn, or down by $6.6bn, compared with the corresponding period last year.
This dynamics was mainly influenced by the unfavourable world pricing environment in February 2020, which caused a decrease in the export of fuel and energy products and, as a result, a decrease in the positive trade balance. At the same time, the total deficit of the remaining components of the current account was reduced slightly.
The balance of financial operations of the private sector, according to the Bank of Russia, amounted to $12.7bn ($17.8bn in January-February 2019) and was formed mainly due to the operations of banks to place assets abroad and reduce external liabilities while reducing volumes of cross-border financial operations of other sectors.
The country's international reserves grew by $14.9bn as a result of the acquisition of foreign currency in the domestic market as part of the budget rule and Bank of Russia operations for the management of reserve assets.
58 RUSSIA Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com