Russia is considering spending its extra revenues from oil and gas sales to buy the currencies of ‘friendly’ countries in order to stem a rally in the ruble, which has become a major economic problem. The county’s finance minister said the government is considering reviving a version of its pre-war fiscal rule to divert energy earnings into foreign exchange, thus indirectly weakening the ruble. However, the country’s economy minister said that the proposed purchases of ‘friendly’ currencies would not be enough to offset the huge inflow of export revenues and weaken the ruble. He warned that diverting energy revenues could also weaken economic growth. The ruble surged more than 40% this year against the USD.