MOSCOW: Russia’s rouble climbed to a more than seven-week high against the dollar on Friday, boosted by the state’s new foreign currency interventions plan and higher oil prices after US and British warplanes and ships struck across Yemen.
Russia’s finance ministry will switch to foreign currency sales from purchases in the coming weeks, it said on Thursday, after December oil and gas revenue was lower than expected. The move is widely expected to buttress the currency.
By 1138 GMT, the rouble was 0.5% stronger against the dollar at 88.16, earlier passing the 88 threshold for the first time since Nov. 23.
It firmed 0.5% to 96.64 versus the euro and was up 0.8% against the yuan at 12.22.
Taking all state foreign exchange interventions into account, Russia is set to sell the equivalent of 16.7 billion roubles ($189.5 million) a day during the second half of January.
The plan should strengthen the rouble in the short-term, Dmitry Polevoy, investment director at Astra Asset Management, said. He expected the currency to fluctuate between 85 and 100 to the dollar over the course of 2024.
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