April 14 Reuters The Russian rouble weakened on Thursday, driven by expectations that Russia may relax its temporary capital control measures further, while stocks fell as the country continued what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

The Russian central bank is considering easing requirements for mandatory foreign currency revenue sales by exportfocused companies, business daily Vedomosti reported, citing a central bank official.

Currently, Russian exporters are obliged to sell 80 of their forex revenues in the first three days after receiving it under a rule established by President Vladimir Putin in lateFebruary to limit rouble39;s volatility amid western sanctions.

At 0739 GMT, the rouble fell 2 to 81.50 , heading away from its strongest level since Nov. 11 of 71 it hit last week.

Against the euro, the rouble shed around 2.5 to 88.55 after briefly sliding beyond the 90 mark.

The rouble eased this week after the central bank scrapped a 12 commission for buying foreign currency through brokerages and promised to lift a temporary ban on selling foreign exchange cash to individuals from April 18.

But the rouble retains support from exportfocused companies that are still obliged to sell their forex revenues on the domestic market.

The dollarrouble pair is expected to stay within a range of 7981 to the dollar, Promsvyazbank said.

Russian actions in Ukraine remained in focus, along with a risk of new Western sanctions and expectations that the economy…