The dollar lost almost all its growth since the beginning of the week, falling below 68 rubles

THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY A FOREIGN AGENT OF THE BELL OR IS RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF A FOREIGN AGENT OF THE BELL. 18+

As analysts expected, the ruble in the third decade of December began to strengthen against the dollar and the euro after a sharp fall to the April level in the last week. The dollar fell below 68 rubles today, having lost all the growth since Tuesday, the euro is trading at about 72 rubles.

The reversal of the rate was facilitated by exporters who, on the eve of the payment of basic taxes, began to actively sell the currency, say analysts interviewed by Kommersant.

The depreciating ruble in the second half of December was a surprise for the market, usually at the end of the year the Russian currency strengthens, because exporters increase the sale of foreign currency before the tax period. Nevertheless, from the beginning of last week until Wednesday, the ruble fell rapidly.

Experts named several possible reasons for this fall. These are oil sanctions, and seasonal demand for the currency before the New Year holidays (due to these two factors, the trade surplus decreased, which, due to sanctions since the spring, was huge and supported the ruble for almost the entire year), and “chronic geopolitical tensions.” But the most likely reason for such a sharp fall in the ruble was the "anomalous activity in the market", which was noted by some analysts. “Most likely, given the high volumes, a large buyer has entered the market, as was the case in May and July this year. Who this buyer is is not known for certain, ”said analysts at Tinkoff Investments.

Is it possible to speak in such a situation about some kind of speculation in the market without additional information is not clear. On the one hand, as experts noted, the currency can be bought to close deals, including to pay off foreign currency debts by importers, to hedge import contracts for 2023, as well as investors who fear greater weakening on the eve of long holidays. On the other hand, the weakening of the ruble before the tax period is beneficial for exporters, who have received less revenue throughout the year due to the overvalued Russian currency.

We talked in more detail about the possible reasons for the unusual fall of the ruble at the end of the year here .