MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian rouble eased against the U.S. dollar and on Monday as rising oil prices and increased forex sales by the state cushioned the impact of new U.S. sanctions designed to curb Russia’s oil and gas revenue.
The rouble was down 0.7% at 102.45 against the dollar by 1000 GMT, over-the-counter market data showed. The rouble weakened 0.8% to 13.81 against the yuan in trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX).
The yuan has become the most traded foreign currency in Russia, with China using it to pay for energy imports from Russia.
The U.S. Treasury on Jan. 10 imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom (MCX:) Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil. Oil prices have since risen above $81 a barrel, the highest in more than four months. [O/R]
The rouble drew support from an announcement by the Finance Ministry on Friday that implied net forex sales by the state would rise by almost one third to 4.76 billion roubles ($46.42 million) per day from Jan. 15.
Under a complex scheme of foreign currency operations, the central bank buys and sells forex to ensure supply on the domestic market and to act on behalf of the finance ministry, which runs the rainy day National Wealth Fund (NWF).
The central bank cannot buy and sell dollars and euros because of Western sanctions, making the yuan the clear choice for forex interventions.
The central bank propped up the rouble last December by deferring purchases of foreign currency on behalf of the finance ministry. The rouble touched its lowest in around 2-1/2 years in November in response to the previous U.S. sanctions package.
It has since regained some of the lost ground and stabilised at around 100 to the U.S. dollar, a level seen as a new equilibrium by the market.
Analysts said expectations of Russia-U.S. talks, flagged by the incoming administration, also supported the rouble.
“Geopolitics will remain the key factor influencing the rouble’s exchange rate in the near future,” T-Bank analysts said.
One-day rouble/dollar futures, which trade on MOEX and are a guide for the over-the-counter exchange rate, were up 0.5% at 103.53. The Russian central bank set the official exchange rate at 101.91.
($1 = 102.5500 roubles)
