MOSCOW (Reuters) – The ruble hit a more than seven-year high on Tuesday as capital controls and month-end taxes offset the negative impact of Western statements that Russia defaulted on its international bonds for the first time in over a century.
The White House and credit bureau Moody’s said Russia defaulted as the sanctions effectively excluded the country from the global financial system.
But the Kremlin, which has the money to make payments out of oil and gas revenues, has rejected the claims and accused the West of driving it into artificial default.
The ruble was up 0.9% against the dollar at 52.93 after hitting its strongest level since early June 2015 of 52.5750 in Moscow trading.
The ruble gained 0.8% against the euro at 55.88, hovering around much stronger levels than before Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb.
At the time, the ruble was trading close to 80 to the dollar and 90 to the euro as it was in free-floating mode, plagued by fears of sanctions and unsupported by capital controls.
The ruble’s rise may be limited given growing concern about the impact of the strong ruble on Russia’s revenues from selling commodities abroad in foreign currency.
Capital restrictions have made the ruble this year’s best-performing currency and helped put Russia’s debt issues aside.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
