The government earlier Thursday approved legal amendments to lift currency restrictions and pave the way for a fully convertible ruble.
The decision came as part of a plan to fulfill President Vladimir Putin's instructions to lift the remaining currency restrictions and make the ruble fully convertible by July 1, outlined in his state of the nation address to parliament on May 10.
"We are expecting that the lifting of all restrictions on capital flow from July 1 this year will bring positive results in terms of raising confidence in the ruble, and also positive changes in investment in economy and creation of new jobs," Alexei Kudrin said, adding that these restrictions "had been making our currency uncivilized until now."
The minister said the Central Bank would exercise full control over currency regulations after July 1, and that "capital would not flee from Russia."
Kudrin said in May that capital inflow into Russia in 2005 had exceeded capital outflow for the first time, which he said was due to the healthy investment climate in the country.
