ERR in Moscow: Russians trust the ruble again
According to Russia's Central Bank, Russians have started to exchange foreign currencies into rubles again, ERR's correspondent in Moscow reported.
In December, when the negative impact of Western economic sanctions against Russia started to become clearly evident, the ruble plunged to a record low.
Panicking Russians exchanged rubles en masse into foreign currencies, as the ruble was in freefall. On December 17, it lost about 20 percent of its value against the dollar and euro within couple of hours.
But the ruble has since rebounded almost 20 percent against the dollar and Russia's Central Bank said on Wednesday that in January, Russians exchanged foreign currencies back into rubles at the fastest rate in last two years. The general demand for foreign currencies decreased by 60 percent.
The Moscow Times said that the ruble has strengthened because a surge in oil prices. The fact that the West has not imposed new sanctions on Russia, also helps, the newspaper said.
According to Bloomberg, confidence by investors has also rebounded. Investors in Russian government securities denominated in rubles have earned the equivalent of seven cents on the dollar so far this year, Bloomberg reported.
Editor: S. Tambur