ZURICH, March 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is expected to post a current account surplus of $30-40 billion in 2009 as exports exceed imports, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Bank Alexei Ulyukayev said on Sunday.
"This will enable the Central Bank to purchase foreign currency and will send a signal to market players that devaluation expectations have no grounds," Ulyukayev told a Russian economic and investment forum in Switzerland.
Ulyukayev said that at the end of last year the Central Bank expected a current account deficit but the regulator's gradual devaluation of the ruble, which depreciated about 34% against the U.S. dollar/euro bi-currency basket, slowed imports considerably.
Ulyukayev said Russia's monthly trade surplus would hit $7-9 billion in 2009.
