Mr. Ulyukayev said the Central Bank had, above all, to ensure the above inflation rate as it was "the prime responsibility of monetary bodies." The Bank's second most important objective is to prevent the ruble from strengthening too much. Mr. Ulyukayev is positive the obligations set out in a program of the credit and monetary policy of the Russian government and the Central Bank will be fulfilled. One of the obligations under the program is to deter the ruble from strengthening more than 7%. However, many factors, including structural ones, that cannot be influenced by the Bank, have their impact on the real effective ruble rate.
The Bank calculated several options for the growth of the gold and currency reserves that are contingent on euro-dollar rates and oil prices. Hence it received the figure of $20-$25 billion. The reserves are expected to increase $10 billion in the first half of 2004.
As of today, the reserves have already rose by $8.6 billion and reached $85.6 billion, reports the newspaper.
