The Bank of Russia paused foreign-currency purchases for the first time since it started interventions last month, helping to arrest a slump in the ruble. Officials didn’t buy or sell foreign currency on June 5, according to data released Tuesday. The currency gained 0.5 percent to 55.704 against the dollar by 5:44 p.m. in Moscow, strengthening for a third day. Russia has damped this year’s biggest major-currency rally, with the ruble tumbling 15 percent since its interventions. Any further depreciation risks stoking inflation and threatening policy makers’ efforts to reduce borrowing costs. “It seems that the central bank decided that it has done enough, at least for now, in terms of foreign-currency interventions,” Piotr Matys, a London-based foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank, said by e-mail. “The Bank of Russia is likely to be flexible when it comes to buying hard currencies to rebuild its reserves.” Bank of Russia Governor Elvira […]