The ruble this year showed the strongest growth against the dollar among all world currencies, by this indicator it has overtaken even gold, Bloomberg writes.
According to the agency’s calculations, since the beginning of the year, the ruble in the over-the-counter market has strengthened against the U.S. dollar by 38%, for comparison: gold – by 23%. The ruble’s growth is partly due to the pressure exerted on the US currency by US President Donald Trump’s ‘tariff wars’. But the Russian currency is also supported by other factors specific only to Russia, such as record high interest rates, Bloomberg notes.
The ruble is rising against the weakening dollar, even despite the massive sanctions imposed on Russia, Bloomberg writes. This is fuelled by a ‘tangible warming’ in relations between Russia and the U.S., the agency points out, as well as lower demand for imports and government currency sales, which protect the ruble from falling oil prices. In addition, Russian companies are seeking to refinance very expensive local currency borrowings with much cheaper yuan loans, leading to additional foreign currency conversions into rubles. However, the strengthening of the Russian currency is not welcomed by exporters, whose revenues are reduced due to the ruble appreciation.
Inside Russia, the ruble has gained 19% against the dollar since the beginning of the year – less than in offshore markets. The difference is due to the divergence of exchange rates at the end of last year, when the Russian market went on a long holiday break, Bloomberg points out. Dollar trading on the Moscow Exchange was suspended after sanctions imposed by the U.S. last summer.
