By Elena Fabrichnaya
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Trading volumes on Moscow Exchange, Russia's largest bourse, surpassed 1 quadrillion roubles ($14.44 trillion) for the second year running, it said on Monday, in part due to enhanced repo operations turnover.
"The current year has not been easy. Markets faced unprecedented challenges," said Yuri Denisov, head of MOEX Group, which runs the Moscow Exchange. "Since the beginning of 2022, the total trading volume has passed the 1-quadrillion-rouble mark.
"The main contribution to this result was the money market, which redistributed money on the market and provided liquidity to all traders," he said, explaining that reduced time frames for placing funds - from a week and month to overnight - had caused increased turnover and a rise in trading volumes.
The quadrillion mark was hit on Dec. 16. The total for 2021 was 1,009 trillion roubles.
Moscow Exchange halted some trading shortly after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine and Western sanctions wrought havoc on Russian markets.
Now, much like its rival SPB Exchange, Moscow Exchange is looking to markets away from the West for development in 2023.
Denisov said the bourse would launch rouble trading with the Emirati dirham, the Azeri manat and Egyptian pound.
The share of trading volume in currencies of so-called friendly countries - those that have not imposed sanctions on Russia - jumped to 34% in November, from 0.5% in early 2022.
"The dollar's share in spot transactions has halved, to 42% from 84%," Denisov said. Trading volumes in China's yuan have increased 41 times, he added.
With no direct flights to much of Europe, destinations such as Egypt and Turkey are becoming ever more popular with Russian tourists, creating additional demand for conversion options.
"This year we have seen a 17-fold increase in turnover in Turkish lira, partly due to demand for the Turkish currency from tourists," said Kirill Pestov, managing director of the exchange's business development department.
($1 = 69.2500 roubles)