Experts predicted the strengthening of the ruble in January

The ruble could strengthen to around 65 rubles/$ in January, economists polled by Bloomberg predict . This will not be prevented even by the Central Bank’s resumption of currency purchases, which contributed to the depreciation of the exchange rate this year and were stopped in August until the end of the year.

Details. In January, the Central Bank will purchase about $201 million daily, below the 2018 average due to falling oil prices, Bloomberg economist Scott Johnson estimated.

• Moderate purchases by the Central Bank and a favorable current account at the beginning of the year should help strengthen the Russian currency, says Oleg Kuzmin, chief economist at Renaissance Capital Investment Company. If there are no new sanctions, he expects the ruble to strengthen to 65 rubles/$ in January.
• The ruble exchange rate will largely depend on oil , added Rosbank analyst Evgeny Koshelev. He expects oil prices to recover to $70 per barrel and the ruble to strengthen to 65.5 rubles/$.

Context. The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, announced at the end of November that the regulator would most likely resume foreign currency purchases as part of the budget rule from January 15.

Artem Gubenko