Ruble stabilizes for now

After a significant fall, the dollar and the euro are making active attempts to stabilize their positions. 

After a sharp upward trend on October 12th and 13th the US and European currencies slightly changed their positions. The dollar decreased by 18 cents at 15.52 MSK up to 62.86 rubles on the Moscow stock exchange. The euro grew by 10 cents up to 71.94 rubles. 

The dollar-euro basket has managed to win back a little less than half of the decline that occurred a week ago.

At the same time, today Brent oil rose to the level of $49 a barrel, so the cost of $50 per barrel is about to be the point of balance on the foreign exchange market, RIA Novosti reports.

As of 19:46, the dollar is amounted to 62.837 rubles, and the euro is 71.9 rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

‘‘First of all, the stabilization of the ruble is explained by the alignment of prices for oil, but there are other favorable factors,’’ a Professor of the Department of Stock Markets and Investments at the Higher School of Economics, Alexander Abramov, said in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.

"The main factor in the stabilization of the ruble is the price of oil. In October it exceeded $ 50 per barrel. In addition, the Central Bank did’t increase significantly the volume of refinancing of banks, i.e., banks had few rubles to buy the currency. Low investment demand still remains in the country. Roughly speaking, there is no necessity to import equipment, as well as the corresponding demand for foreign currency is also limited. The external debts are repaid with the help of the mechanism of repurchase agreements. Therefore there are no any additional factors for additional amount of rubles in the market. Therefore, we can see more or less stable ruble,’’ the expert explained.

"The main factor in the stabilization of the ruble is the price of oil. In October it exceeded $50 per barrel. In addition, the Central Bank didn't significantly increase the volume of refinancing of banks, i.e., banks had few rubles to buy the currency. Low investment demand still remains in the country. Roughly speaking, there is no need to import equipment, while the corresponding demand for foreign currency is also limited. The external debts are repaid with the help of the mechanism of repurchase agreements. Therefore there aren't any additional factors for increasing the amount of rubles in the market. Therefore, we can see a more or less stable ruble,’’ the expert explained.

According to Alexander Arshavsky, Associate Professor of the department of corporate finances, investment planning and evaluation at the Limitovsky RANHiGS, the stabilization of the ruble is mainly related to the movement of capital: its increasing inflow and falling outflow.

"The ruble has really stabilized in the short term. It was affected by a number of factors. Firstly, payments on external corporate debt reduced, so the outflow of money also decreased. According to the Central Bank, the second factor is that the inflow of capital has increased. So an additional amount of currency appeared in the market, but there is no strong demand. These are the main factors,’’ he said.