MOSCOW: The Russian rouble is starting to get too strong, a trend that is hurting exports and resulting in lower budget revenues, Andrei Belousov, a Kremlin economic aide, told reporters on Thursday.
"From my point of view, today the rouble is starting to strengthen too much ... This is lowering budget revenues and increasing budget issues," said Belousov.
Buoyed by a partial recovery in oil prices, the rouble has strengthened by around 15 percent against the dollar since the start of the year.
President Vladimir Putin said this week it was getting stronger despite current volatility in the global commodity markets and that the authorities needed to think about what to do in the near future.
Russia is a major commodities exporter and a weaker rouble has helped it offset losses from historically lower prices. It last year increased oil production to a nearly 30-year high, as a weaker rouble helped compensate for lower oil prices.
Belousov on Thursday declined to comment on the rouble rate he thought was appropriate for the economy or to say whether he deemed the central bank should take any special measures.
"There is quite a large number of tools and instruments which can be used," he said. "I would not name them now, as it is up to the central bank and the government to decide specifically how these tools should be used."
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