Recent ruble drop no cause for concern – Putin

Russia does not consider the recent devaluation of the ruble an “insurmountable” problem, because the factors affecting the currency are manageable and, for the most part, temporary, President Vladimir Putin stated on Tuesday.

According to the Russian leader, one of these factors is the return of foreign currency earnings of major exporters, and another – the rise in imports.

“When the ruble exchange rate was 60 to the dollar, we had not yet established logistical chains for imports. Now imports are coming to our market in greater and greater volumes, which means that the demand for foreign currency is growing. There are other factors, but in general they are manageable. We see them, we understand them, the central bank can cope with them,” Putin said, speaking at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

The situation requires action from Russia’s financial authorities, but in general, there is nothing to worry about, the president said.

“This issue requires its own painstaking study on the part of the central bank and the Russian government, the financial authorities, but in general I do not think that there are some absolutely insurmountable problems or difficulties,” Putin stated, adding that there are currently no plans to introduce additional capital controls or obligatory return of foreign currency earnings.

The ruble has been gradually dropping throughout the past two months, sliding to a 16-month low against the dollar and the euro in mid-August. Economists have linked the depreciation to the low volume of foreign exchange revenue by exporters.

However, the currency rebounded after the central bank hiked its key rate to 12%. The ruble strengthened further during Tuesday’s trading on the Moscow Exchange to 92 against the dollar and 99 versus the euro.

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