Ruble Drops to Its Lowest

By 0939 GMT, the ruble fell 2.5% versus the dollar at 70.60 after beating 70.7550 earlier.

It had yielded 2.4% to trade at 75.22 versus the euro, traversing the 75 threshold for the first time since late April. It had cleared 2.1% against the yuan to 10.10, a nearly seven-month low.

The ruble has previously failed more than 8% this week against the dollar, and about 12% since a cap on Russian oil prices came into power. It has now yielded the top spot as the world’s best-performing primary currency this year to Brazil’s real.

Armenia’s dram and Georgia’s lari are among the less liquid currencies to have intensified sharply this year. Tens of thousands of Russians have fled to the likes of Armenia and Georgia since the conflict in Ukraine started.

Capital controls and an initial failure in imports due to Western sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine this year backed the Russian currency.

Falling Revenues

The ruble has been catching up with the decline of Russia’s balance of payments, expressed Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights. In recent months, Russian export revenues have declined as gas exports snappily decreased, and the EU oil embargo restricts oil revenues.

Meantime, imports have been restored, meaning that Ziemba added that, instead of a gigantic import contraction-led balance of payments remaining, it is coming closer to a deficit.

Russian oil exports dropped by 11% for Dec. 1-20, corresponding to the previous month after the European Union’s embargo on Russian oil came into force, the Kommersant daily reported on Wednesday, quoting unidentified sources acquainted with the situation.

Andrei Kochetkov of Otkritie Research indicated that the withdrawal of funds by foreign companies selling their businesses in Russia could put tension on the ruble.