For the first time since March 2018, the dollar exchange rate on the Moscow Exchange fell below 57 rubles. According to trading data on May 24, as of 10:01 Moscow time, the dollar exchange rate was losing 1 ruble 25.75 kopecks, dropping to 56.61 rubles.
How the ruble was tempered: what caused a new round of strengthening the national currency
Experts expect that in order to increase budget revenues, the Central Bank may go for early removal of restrictions
At the same time, the euro exchange rate decreased by 1 ruble 51 kopecks, to 58.59 rubles.
The day before, the euro exchange rate on the Moscow Exchange fell to 59 rubles for the first time since June 2015.
At the same time, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation reported that the strengthening of the ruble had reached its peak. Stock market expert Dmitry Babin said that the dollar and euro quotes are approaching their lows.
In turn, Associate Professor of the Institute of Economics and Finance of the State University of Management Artem Savostitsky told Izvestiya that a sharp strengthening of the ruble exchange rate could lead to Dutch disease (the Groningen effect), in which an increase in foreign exchange inflows leads to lagging behind high-tech industries and inflation in the long term.
Prior to this, on May 21, in the material of the publication Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten it was noted that, contrary to forecasts, the ruble exchange rate showed a positive growth trend and reached record levels over the past seven years. According to the author of the article, high revenues from energy sales and strengthening trade ties with India and China allow maintaining stability.
On May 19, Russian presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin said that the current ruble exchange rate is absolutely market-based. According to him, the Russian national currency is strengthening due to a strong balance of payments due to high prices for exported oil. In addition, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance stopped buying foreign currency on the market, closed the possibility of withdrawing capital to countries unfriendly to the Russian Federation and making payments to investors from such states, the presidential aide added.