Russia stabilized the ruble only with the help of tight controls – FT
Despite the verdict, the ruble has almost recovered to the level it was before 24 February. To a five day dollar bent down almost up to a height of 80 rubles. But to stabilize the ruble, Moscow experienced only artificially the prevention and financial collapse with the help of “draconian” capital controls and a ban on the sale of Russian assets by foreign investors, writes Financial Times. No such position has been found in the Kremlin.
About what strengthened the ruble “artificial”, on the eve of announced and White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield. According to her, the ruble, compliance with the requirements of the Central Bank and estimates, no longer reflects the real situation in the Russian economy.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was not sent today with this statement. “Say, ignore, navigate [на рубль как на индикатор состояния экономики] can”, – said said he reporters.
Experts interviewed by the FT say that Moscow nevertheless managed to avoid the collapse of the financial system, but at the cost of the growth of the global financial market. The ruble was also supported by oil and gas packages, but the restrictions imposed by the Central Bank played a decisive role. “At the beginning [„спецоперации“] there was a moment when the ruble fell sharply … when many citizens transferred their money to be sent, Oleg Vyugin, chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Moscow Exchange and former deputy chairman of the Central Bank, told the publication. “But subsequently there was an embargo on this, and it became almost impossible to use dollars either in the country or abroad.”
In addition, the FT writes, the Central Bank banned foreigners from selling Russian assets, their investments were trapped. Raising the key rate to 20% prompted Russians to save their rubles instead of exchanging them for that currency. “This measure prevented the collapse of the banks and followed the Russian banking system safe and sound,” – the publication of the economy.
However, the stronger ruble is seen as a misrepresentation of the Russian economy. “Banks outside of Russia are in the midst of a sharp deceleration of the dollar against the ruble,” said one of the experts. “This market simply does not exist offshore.”
But the opinion at the same time strengthened one of the possible sides of the Russian economy – a positive trade balance. According to Vyugin, the sharp rise in energy prices, together with a sharp drop in imports, created “a very strong trade balance and a large surplus of foreign currency in the trade balance.” Ultimately, Russia, according to the forecast of economists, can restore the reserves of the Central Bank, which were frozen due to the collection, in more than a year.
About all the restrictions that the Central Bank has introduced because of what we have distributed here. In March 2022, Russia overtook Iran in the number of countries entered against gatherings. The Iranian experience with a similar set of restrictions allows us to imagine what lies ahead for the Russian share and the property market. How the drug market is under sanctions in Iran and its finances, read here.