The depreciation of the ruble in December last year was caused by a number of factors: asset purchases from non-residents, seasonal demand for foreign currency and low oil prices. This is stated in review Regulator’s financial market risks to December 2023.
The review notes that short-term weakening was also facilitated by futures contract expiration.
Before this, it was known that Russians purchased currency at a record value of 179 billion rubles in December. Almost all of the purchases were made in dollars and euros. This situation further increased the green box shortage in the foreign exchange swap market.
However, at the end of the month, the ruble lost only 1% of its value against the dollar. Exporters actively sold their foreign exchange earnings; Its net sales increased by 14% compared to November, reaching 588.2 billion rubles.
The other day, President of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Elvira Nabiullina, spoke At the forum “Financiers’ Day” in Moscow, questions were raised about the reasons for this. The Central Bank refused to comment, and the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation stated that this was personal information and therefore no comment would be made.
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