MOSCOW--Capital outflow from Russia slowed in April to about $5 billion, more than a third of a monthly average in the first quarter, the country's economy minister said Thursday, Interfax reported.
Alexei Ulyukayev said the outflow slowed as households stopped converting their rubles into foreign currency.
The minister added that if swaps and foreign-currency accounts are taken in account the outflow in April stood at $8 billion.
Mr. Ulyukayev's estimate is close to that of the central bank, which said last week that the net capital outflow without swaps and forex accounts slowed in April to $4.6 billion, compared with a monthly average of $16.7 billion seen in the first quarter.
Russia's capital flight was around $63 billion in the first three months of the year, nearly as much as in the whole of 2013, as fears of Western sanctions linked to the Ukraine crisis prompted companies and households to ditch rubles and buy foreign currencies.
Excluding swaps and foreign-currency accounts, first-quarter net outflow totaled around $50 billion, still the highest quarterly outflow since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Mr. Ulyukayev said he sees a possibility of a net capital inflow in June, but it wouldn't be enough to make the whole of the second quarter net positive.
Write to Alexander Kolyandr at alexander.kolyandr@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 29, 2014 02:59 ET (06:59 GMT)
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