Belousov: a strong ruble has already played a role for the economy

The strong ruble has already played its role for the Russian economy, said First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel. However, a weaker ruble is now more profitable, he added.

“The strong ruble has played its role (already. – Approx. “Interfax”), – declared Belousov (quote from Interfax)

At the same time, the First Deputy Prime Minister believes that now, in the face of falling company incomes and declining exports, the ruble exchange rate “would be good to have 70-80 rubles per dollar.”

This summer, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov saidthat the strengthening of the ruble is one of the new challenges for the Russian economy. Then he said that a strong ruble creates a problem for exporters and importers.

In December, the ruble began to decline. Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Alexei Zabotkin explainedthat this is due to the decline in oil prices. At the same time, according to Zabotkin, the rate is still “fluctuating in the range that has been observed since about the end of May this year.”

The official dollar exchange rate, set by the Central Bank on December 27, is 68.4 rubles, the official euro exchange rate is 72.6 rubles. As of 10:10 Moscow time, the dollar exchange rate on the Moscow Exchange was 68.81 rubles, the euro – 73 rubles.

December 15 Russian President Vladimir Putin declaredthat since the beginning of the year the Russian ruble has become one of the strongest currencies in the world. According to him, this result was achieved thanks to the regulation of capital outflow, the transfer of gas payments to rubles, settlements with trading partners in national currencies, as well as a responsible financial policy.

He noted that an “unprecedented sanctions aggression” was launched against Russia, the purpose of which was to “crush” the national economy. Putin stressed that the calculation of Western countries on the collapse of the Russian ruble, as well as the acceleration of inflation in the country, did not materialize.