MOSCOW, May 22 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble climbed to

its strongest since late January against the dollar on

Wednesday, supported by high interest rates, capital controls

and the state's increased sales of foreign currency this month.

At 0648 GMT, the rouble was 0.2% stronger against the dollar

at 89.95, earlier hitting 89.75, its strongest

point since Jan. 31.

It had gained 0.1% to trade at 97.81 versus the euro

and firmed 0.1% against the yuan to 12.40

.

Capital controls introduced by presidential decree in

October 2023 require dozens of undisclosed exporting firms to

deposit a high percentage of foreign currency earnings with

Russian banks and then sell most of those proceeds on the

domestic market. The controls were extended by a year at the end

of April.

The state's overall forex sales were sharply increased to

6.3 billion roubles ($69.83 million) a day in May from 0.6

billion roubles a day in the previous month, further buttressing

the Russian currency.

After three successive interest rate holds at 16%, the

central bank has adopted a more hawkish stance ahead of its next

meeting on June 7, with inflation remaining stubbornly high.

"Strategically, the rouble gains from the Bank of Russia's

tight monetary policy and also limits on the withdrawal of

capital," Alor Broker's Alexei Antonov said. "High inflation and

the absence of signs of its significant decline suggest that

factors supporting the rouble will continue for a long time."

Many analysts have shifted their expectations for the start

of the rate-cutting cycle to later this year or early 2025.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was down 0.8% at $82.24 a barrel.

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