The Russian rouble steadied near 82 to the dollar on Thursday, helped by higher oil prices that may increase the inflow of foreign currency export earnings, but it was still susceptible to sharp swings amid limited liquidity.
The rouble suffered its worst week against the dollar all year last week, prompting numerous comments from officials.
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina rejecting lawmakers’ requests to tighten currency restrictions and warned of sharp devaluations and financial crises.
At 0731 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at 81.93 and had lost 0.1% to trade at 90.10 versus the euro. It had shed 0.1% against the yuan to 11.90.
Limited FX supply has hampered the rouble, but tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to meet local liabilities should buttress the rouble later in the month.
Russian rouble continues slide amid demand for foreign currency
Russia’s diminishing current account surplus, which shrank by about 73% in January-March as the value of exports decreased and imports recovered, is also harming the rouble.
“There is still a balance between demand and supply of foreign currency at current values,” Promsvyazbank analyst Egor Zhilnikov said in a note, expecting the rouble to stay between 81.5 and 82.5 to the dollar in the absence of strong drivers in either direction.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.2% at $87.2 a barrel, close to a more than 10-week high hit in the previous session.
After spending much of last year as the world’s best-performing currency, the rouble has suffered after the West imposed new sanctions on Russia’s oil exports in the form of an oil price cap and an EU embargo on its sea-borne crude exports.
Russian stock indexes were higher.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.6% to 981.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.6% higher at 2,553.1 points.
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