The Russian rouble lost 50 kopecks against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to increase efforts to curb inflows of speculative capital. The rouble closed at 36.06 against a dollar-euro basket the central bank uses for guiding the currency's nominal exchange rate, weakening from the previous day's close of 35.57.
The decline came despite relatively strong prices for crude oil - Russia's top export and usually a good indicator of the rouble's strength - cruising on global markets near the $80 a barrel mark. The 1.4 percent slide in the rouble on the day shows the heavy weight of Putin's words and how easily investors can get spooked, traders said. The prime minister said the government needs to correct regulations so it becomes less attractive for short-term speculators to play with the rouble. He added the government's task is to attract funds, but not the ones that would run away with the "first rain".
"A statement like this can be read as a sign of increasing control over the exchange rate," Alexander Panasenko, trader at Metallinvestbank, said. "And naturally, any person trading on the forex market takes it as a negative moment and might impulsively decide to start selling." Large banks were the chief buyers of the easing rouble, a dealer at a Russian bank said on condition of anonymity.
The rouble has been fluctuating between 35.42 and 36.88 against the basket in the past month, following 10 weeks of consecutive gains that strengthened the currency from 38.20 on September 2 to 35.10 on November 19. The rouble's appreciation has been fuelled by the improving global economic outlook and fairly strong crude prices, which prompted investors to take riskier, but higher yielding, plays such as the rouble and its assets.
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