(Reuters) -Russia’s central bank stated Friday that it would ease restrictions for foreign funds transfers to individuals over a period of six months.

The bank stated that the earlier limits on foreign funds were not applicable to non-residents and residents of other countries who had placed sanctions against Russia.

According to the bank, the transfer limit is 10,000 U.S. dollar or its equivalent in foreign currency. This can be done within one calendar month.

According to the bank, all foreign transfers made from accounts held by non-residents or individuals from sanctioned countries will be suspended in six months.

It will help ease the burden on Russians who send money regularly to their relatives overseas or who leave Russia without having access to their finances at home.

The central bank had earlier announced that it will temporarily suspend transfers made by individuals and legal entities from different countries to foreign accounts. The central bank also restricted transfers to $5,000 per month.

Last week, the regulator stated that Russia’s central banking had imposed capital flow restrictions in recent months to stem from part of its reserve being frozen in Western countries.

The West has placed sanctions on Russia in response to what Moscow called “a special military operations” in Ukraine. This limited central bank’s ability support the currency of the Russian rouble with dollars, euros and its gold and foreign currencies.