ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 4 -- Russia will boost its purchases of foreign currency and gold by seven times as of Sept. 6, the country's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, it will allocate 172.9 billion rubles (about 1.98 billion U.S. dollars) for purchases of foreign currency and gold under Russia's fiscal rule from Sept. 6 to Oct. 4. Respectively, the daily volume of purchases will equal 8.2 billion rubles (94 million dollars).

For the period from Aug. 7 to Sept. 5, a total of 24.65 billion rubles (280 million dollars) was allocated to these operations, with daily purchases equaling 1.12 billion rubles (13 million dollars).

In September, the Russian federal budget is expected to receive an additional 162 billion rubles (1.85 billion dollars) in oil and gas income, the ministry said.

  - Xinhua