By Alexander Marrow
(Reuters) – The Russian rouble weakened on Friday, dropping to a more than seven-week low past 101 against the dollar, under pressure from lower oil prices and the reduced supply of foreign currency from exporters at the start of the month.
By 0732 GMT, the rouble was 0.6% softer against the dollar at 101.00, having earlier touched 101.50, its weakest since Aug. 14.
It had lost 0.7% to trade at 106.46 versus the euro and shed 0.6% against the yuan to 13.81.
The rouble’s last tumble into triple digits in August led the Bank of Russia to make an emergency 350 basis-point rate hike to 12% and authorities to discuss reintroducing controls to buttress the currency, but interventions – verbal or otherwise – have been more limited this time around.
The Kremlin said there was no cause for concern. President Vladimir Putin on Thursday acknowledged the rouble’s weakening as a problem, but also extolled the economy’s resilience against Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Accelerating inflation hit 5.94% on Oct. 2, the economy ministry said this week, while the central bank is widely expected to hike rates from 13% currently at its next meeting later this month.
Delayed action by the authorities and Russia’s trade imbalance – exports have contracted this year, while imports have recovered sharply – are causing the rouble’s weakness, said Promsvyazbank analysts in a note.
“We expect that the dollar exchange rate’s entry into the three-digit zone will be short-lived, as it will prompt the authorities to take measures capable of cooling the FX market.”
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.2% at $84.24 a barrel, near its lowest since late August.
Russia’s government on Friday said it had lifted a ban on pipeline diesel exports via ports, removing the bulk of restrictions installed on Sept. 21.
Those restrictions on fuel exports from Russia, the world’s top seaborne exporter of the fuel just ahead of the U.S., have bolstered global prices and forced some buyers to scramble for alternative sources of gasoline and diesel.
Russian stock indexes were mixed.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.5% to 977.7 points, a three-month low. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% higher at 3,135.1 points.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Jan Harvey and Christina Fincher)
