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Rouble slides to lowest in almost a year vs dollar, euro,
yuan
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Russian currency hurt by lower FX supply, capital outflows
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Stocks hit near one-year high on still elevated oil prices
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This content was produced in Russia where the law
restricts
coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
(Updates prices, adds finance minister comment)
By Alexander Marrow
MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble fell
sharply to a near one-year low past 81 to the dollar on Thursday
as tight foreign exchange supplies and capital outflows combined
with limited liquidity to outweigh support from strong oil
prices.
By 1212 GMT, the rouble was 1.4% weaker against the dollar
at 80.95 , earlier hitting 81.0375, its weakest
since April 15, 2022.
In the near term, the rouble is likely to continue weakening towards 81 against the dollar, but the potential for a corrective strengthening of the rouble remains, Bank St Petersburg analysts said in a note.
The rouble lost 1.4% to trade at 88.53 versus the euro and shed 1.5% against the yuan to 11.75 , in both cases a near one-year low.
Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.4% at $85.3 a barrel. Although higher oil prices usually boost the rouble, tighter foreign exchange supplies are hurting the Russian currency. Month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign exchange revenues into roubles were due last week. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made a verbal intervention on Thursday.
"Prices for our energy have now gone up and this is a signal that there will be more foreign currency coming into the country," he said. "Consequently, this will lead to the rouble rate having a tendency to strengthen." The government last year said it preferred a rouble rate of 70-80 against the dollar.
CAPITAL OUTFLOWS
Analysts say capital outflows from Western investors selling
assets, wealthy Russians converting roubles and periodic
Eurobond payments that require swift conversion into hard
currency, are partially behind the rouble weakness.
The rouble has been on a steadily weakening trend all year,
under external pressure since a Western price cap on Russia's
oil sales came into force in early December alongside a European
Union embargo on buying sea-borne Russian oil.
The risk of lower export earnings as a result and the
cost of reorienting raw material supplies east have impacted the
rouble rate.
Russian stock indexes were mixed on Thursday.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1% to
977.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was
0.5% higher at 2,513.3 points, touching a near one-year high
earlier in the session.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; additional reporting by Darya
Korsunskaya; Editing by Robert Birsel, Mark Heinrich, Sonali
Paul and Susan Fenton)
