April 13 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble steadied near 82
to the dollar on Thursday, helped by higher oil prices that may
increase the inflow of foreign currency export earnings, but it
was still susceptible to sharp swings amid limited liquidity.
The rouble suffered its worst week against the dollar all
year last week, prompting numerous comments from officials.
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina rejecting lawmakers'
requests to tighten currency restrictions and warned of sharp
devaluations and financial crises.
At 0731 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at
81.93 and had lost 0.1% to trade at 90.10 versus
the euro . It had shed 0.1% against the yuan to
11.90 .
Limited FX supply has hampered the rouble, but tax payments
that usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to
meet local liabilities should buttress the rouble later in the
month.
Russia's diminishing current account surplus, which shrank
by about 73% in January-March as the value of exports decreased
and imports recovered, is also harming the rouble.
"There is still a balance between demand and supply of
foreign currency at current values," Promsvyazbank analyst Egor
Zhilnikov said in a note, expecting the rouble to stay between
81.5 and 82.5 to the dollar in the absence of strong drivers in
either direction.
Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia's
main export, was down 0.2% at $87.2 a barrel, close to a more
than 10-week high hit in the previous session.
After spending much of last year as the world's
best-performing currency, the rouble has suffered after the West
imposed new sanctions on Russia's oil exports in the form of an
oil price cap and an EU embargo on its sea-borne crude exports.
Russian stock indexes were higher.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.6% to
981.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was
0.6% higher at 2,553.1 points.
For Russian equities guide see For Russian treasury bonds see (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Robert Birsel)
