Aug 23 (Reuters) - The rouble pared early losses and firmed to 94 against the dollar as the finance ministry held OFZ treasury bond auctions on Wednesday, with the Russian currency tipped to benefit from a favourable month-end tax period.

By 1325 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger against the dollar at 94.00 and had gained 0.5% to trade at 101.87 versus the euro. It had firmed 0.1% against the yuan to 12.87.

The rouble strengthened sharply last week after hitting a near 17-month low of 101.75 to the dollar, as the central bank hiked its key rate by 350 basis points to 12% and exporters increased selling of their foreign currency revenue following discussions with Russian authorities.

"Banks' restrictions on operations with the dollar and euro may lower demand for 'toxic' foreign currency from the population, but importers are not going anywhere," said Yevgeny Kogan, professor at Russia's Higher School of Economics.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said inflationary risks were rising and urged the government and central bank to keep the situation under control.

"After a significant wave of recovery last week, the rouble has been losing its positions in recent sessions," said Banki.ru chief analyst Bogdan Zvarich.

"The consolidation of the rouble with possible attempts to continue its recovery looks most logical," he said, pointing to the upcoming peak of tax payments.

As the end of the month approaches, the rouble should gain the support of tax payments, where exporters usually convert foreign currency revenues into roubles to meet local liabilities.

But geopolitical risk was also exerting pressure on the currency, after another drone attack on Moscow's business district, which was hit twice in three days at the start of the month.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry returned to debt markets on Wednesday after cancelling auctions last week amid extreme volatility on markets.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 1.9% at $82.39 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were lower.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.9% to 1,055.2 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.2% lower at 3,162.0 points. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow Editing by Mark Potter)