MOSCOW: The Russian rouble firmed on Friday, supported by local tax payments and ahead of the central bank key rate decision later in the day.
The central bank is expected to publish the press release after the meeting at 1030 GMT, and the governor Elvira Nabiullina will hold a news conference at 1200 GMT.
All twenty-six analysts and economists polled this month by Reuters unanimously expect the central bank to keep the key rate at 7.75 percent.
"If the CBR (the Central Bank of Russia) keeps rates unchanged and only slightly revises its inflation projections (which is our baseline scenario), the rouble's reaction would be small," analysts at VTB Capital said in a note.
At 0720 GMT, the rouble was 0.14 percent stronger against the dollar at 63.78 and had gained 0.03 percent to trade at 72.60 versus the euro.
Oil hovered slightly below 2019 peaks on Friday and helped the Russian currency. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.06 percent at $67.90 a barrel.
The rouble is also supported by local month tax payments that prompt the Russian export-focused companies to convert more foreign currency to meet liabilities at home.
Russian stock indexes were down.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.11 percent to 1,236.36 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.22 percent lower at 2,502.75 points.
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