The Russian ruble has strengthened to a point where it is actually too strong, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday during a lecture in St. Petersburg.
“What happened was expected: the volume of gold reserves stabilized, then the ruble started stabilizing and has now strengthened. We believe that it has strengthened excessively,” Siluanov said at a lecture in St Petersburg.
On Friday, the ruble gained 1.22 percent against the dollar, trading at 51.37 at 5:00pm in Moscow. After gaining a record 15 percent in the first three months of 2015, the ruble has begun to weaken, which the Central Bank sees as a good sign. The regulator is trying to reverse the gains the currency picked up this year. However, a stronger ruble could pose problems for exporters who benefit from a weaker currency. At stake is also Russia’s project of import substitution; as the ruble gets stronger customers have more purchasing power to buy foreign goods.
INC News, 24/04/2015 - via RT
No comments:
Post a Comment