Moscow exchange begins trading in Turkish lira

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) - The Moscow Stock Exchange announced on Monday that it has begun trading in the Turkish lira against the Russian ruble.

In a statement, the Moscow Exchange said that around 1.5 million rubles (around $ 26,000) were traded as of the first day.

According to the statement, Igor Marich, who oversees the bourse’s money and derivatives markets, said that the expansion of tools for the forex market would provide new opportunities for investment firms and bank customers who deal with foreign trade operations between Russia and Turkey.

Marich said that in 2017 the foreign trade volume between Russia and Turkey rose 40 percent and surpassed $20 billion.

“The development of direct purchases of Russian rubles and Turkish liras on the foreign exchange market will encourage the growth of the role of national currencies in mutual agreements,” he said.

In addition to the lira, the Moscow Exchange currently trades in the dollar, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Hong Kong dollar, Chinese yen, Belarus ruble, and Kazakhstani tenge, and recently added the Japanese yen.