Russia's intl. reserves fall $2.82 bln in Feb. to $384 bln

MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's international reserves stood at $384.074 billion as of March 1, 2009 compared with $386.894 billion as of February 1, a fall of 0.73%, the Central Bank said on Friday.

This decrease is the smallest monthly fall since August 2008, when a long-term growth trend was abruptly reversed.

February was also the first time in recent months that the Bank of Russia did not sell any foreign exchange from its reserves.