Former Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov said the decline in the ruble was due to the Indian rupee being “hanging” in the Russian Federation. RBC.
The expert said that in the first half of the year, Russia supplied oil and petroleum products worth 30 billion dollars to India, while Russia’s imports from India were estimated to be around 6-7 billion dollars per year. Zadornov noted that the Russian Federation has nothing to buy from India, but Russia cannot return these rupees because the rupee is an unconvertible currency.
“$30 billion in six months, more than the entire current account surplus,” said Zadornov.
He stressed that the currency’s return to the country is a way to influence the ruble exchange rate. Due to the sanctions, this process is “difficult and long” for the banks, but the Russian government and the Central Bank have to solve this problem.
India bans some transactions with its national currency. RBC states that Indian banks do not always have enough rubles to convert rupees into another currency.
According to this BloombergRussian companies’ accounts in India accumulate up to $1 billion in rupees each month, which is nearly impossible to spend due to current currency restrictions.
Previously recognizedhow the weakening of the ruble will affect the state of the economy.