Russian Central Bank Sees No Additional Pressure on Ruble Exchange Rate

The current situation has removed the risks of additional pressure on ruble exchange rates, Russia's Central Bank said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The sufficient level of currency liquidity and the financial regulator’s timely refusal to purchase currency to complement the international reserves have removed risks of additional pressure on the exchange rate of the ruble to the end of the year, the Russian Central Bank said in a commentary Friday.

“This, as well as the decision to temporarily halt operations on purchasing foreign currency to complement the international reserves has led to the easing of additional pressure on the exchange rate of the ruble in the third and fourth quarters [of 2015],” the Central Bank said.

The bank suspended foreign currency purchases on Tuesday to replenish international reserves due to increased volatility in the domestic foreign exchange market.

Accompanying slumping oil prices, on which the resource-rich Russian economy is highly dependent on, the ruble dropped to nearly 67 against the US dollar as of mid-Friday.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Badri announced after a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday that the global oil organization did not plan to cut its oil production quota of 30 million barrels a day.

The Russian Central Bank continued with its incremental interest rate cuts, slashing the key rate by 50 basis points to 11 percent in its fifth rate reduction this year.