MOSCOW - The Russian Central Bank's active buying of foreign currency and the revision of its policies aimed at hampering the rate of the ruble's devaluation may result in lower outflow of private sector capital, experts believe. According to data on Russia's trade balance and unilateral transfers, assets of Russian banks placed abroad decreased substantially in September.

By July 1, 2004, assets of the Russian banking sector placed abroad benefited from a 27.4-percent surge since the beginning of this year having advanced to $27.38bn. This is a historic record. This surge was due to the policies exercised by the Russian Central Bank.