FX.co ★ Ruble becomes stable?

The Russian ruble surprises market participants by its current stability. The currency is trading quite steadily almost ignoring external factors. During the last several years, the ruble’s exchange rate could easily move by 3-5 percent at a time, but nowadays fluctuations are surprisingly modest.

For example, when the Brent crude price, which always has a considerable impact on the ruble, slid by 1.5 percent, the Russian currency managed to keep its position. The ruble’s charts show that the currency has been trading in a very narrow range since spring. Besides, traders note that the period was rather rich in various events that usually affected the ruble’s dynamic negatively. Even a large-scale event such as Britain’s vote to leave the European Union did not fret the Russian currency market. However, there is an opinion that the stability is artificial and does not concern the market reality. Those who share this viewpoint are sure that the ruble’s exchange rate is being controlled as the authorities want to create a positive image ahead of an election.

Anyway, the stable ruble favors the plans of the Central Bank of Russia by placing inflationary expectations under pressure. Still, sooner or later the Russian currency is expected to start reacting to oil price dynamics once again.