March 21, 2017, 18:40 / Personal account

Gref predicted a strong ruble

The estimates of the Minister of Finance and economists for 2017 are noticeably worse Lyudmila Koval

Gref predicted a strong ruble / E. Razumny / Vedomosti

Analysts and economists surveyed by Vedomosti yesterday largely supported the position of the Finance Minister. Thus, according to the chief economist of Renaissance Capital Oleg Kuzin and Rosbank analyst Evgeniy Koshelev, by the middle of the year the dollar exchange rate will rise to 62-63 rubles/$. And Raiffeisenbank analyst Denis Poryvay believes that by the end of the year the dollar could reach the level of 65 rubles/$. According to the chief economist of the Capital PF, Evgeniy Nadorshin, it is possible that by July the dollar will reach 70 rubles.

The ruble exchange rate in 2017 may fluctuate between 57-60 rubles. per dollar, says Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref.

“Recently, even the price of oil directly, as before, does not correlate with the exchange rate, so I would definitely not expect, unless there are some geopolitical conflicts, I do not expect large fluctuations. I think that the fluctuation threshold is at the level of 57-60 rubles. “That’s all that can be expected,” Interfax quotes Gref as saying. On Tuesday, the dollar to ruble exchange rate fluctuated in the range of 57.03-57.5 rubles.

The dollar may rise in price by 5–6 rubles by summer

Finance / Personal Finance

Meanwhile, yesterday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the ruble is fundamentally overvalued by 10-12%, which is beneficial for the department’s purchase of foreign currency.

Only the chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank, Yaroslav Lisovolik, said that he expects a slight weakening of the ruble by the middle of the year, only to 60 rubles/$.

That is why experts recommend that those who need foreign currency in the summer start buying it now, while the dollar is worth 57.3-58 rubles.

But the president of Sberbank warned: unqualified investors most often buy currency “when there is no need to buy, and sell when there is no need to do this either.” “Therefore, the most correct strategy is to live calmly and not worry about this topic,” Gref said.