MOSCOW: The Russian rouble stabilised on Monday, hovering not far from last week’s multi-month high, still supported by exporters’ foreign currency sales and high interest rates.

At 0744 GMT the rouble was 0.2% weaker against the dollar at 88.75 and had lost 0.2% to 97.25 against the euro.

Against the yuan, it shed 0.1% to 12.39 . The rouble has strengthened against the dollar for seven weeks in a row. It could reach the 85 mark this week, said Alor Broker’s Alexei Antonov, but could then struggle.

“December has always been a bad month for the rouble,” Antonov said.

“Usually at the end of the year financial liquidity increases due to the budget finalising payments with its contractors (and) many people buying foreign currency to spend the New Year holidays abroad.”

The rouble has firmed from beyond 100 since last month’s announcement of a presidential decree requiring some exporters to convert a significant portion of foreign exchange revenue.

Month-end tax payments, due on Tuesday, are also supporting the Russian currency.

Kremlin aide Maxim Oreshkin last week said the reduction in capital outflows had helped the rouble to rebound, along with a stabilising balance of payments.

Russian rouble weakens against dollar

Strong consumer demand could limit a further rise in the currency, he said. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia’s interest rate hike to 15% in late October has also buttressed the currency.

The bank, which has signalled that another increase may be needed before it can start lowering the cost of borrowing, is due to meet on Dec. 15.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.4% at $80.23 a barrel, slipping as investors awaited an OPEC+ meeting this week for a potential agreement to curb supplies into 2024. Russian stock indexes were largely steady.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.1% at 1,142.0 points while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was unchanged at 3,217.7 points.