REUTERS
Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev admits that the forex rate of the Russian ruble against the U.S. dollar depends entirely on oil prices, which may have reached their short-term equilibrium amid $47 per barrel, according to Russian economic news agency Prime.
"Most recently, the ruble exchange rate has depended entirely on the price of oil. It [the ruble] almost has no correlation to the movement of capital; [there is] a firm orientation toward the trade surplus and, consequently, the price of oil," Ulyukayev said, Prime wrote.
"My hypothesis is that the oil price has reached a certain equilibrium, for the short term. You see that volatility is very low, it is fluctuating around $47, a little higher, a little lower," he said.
According to him, in the longer-term outlook, the period of the high volatility of oil prices has ended and therefore there won't be any drastic ruble rate fluctuations, Prime wrote.
The forex rate of the Russian ruble has been wobbling around 65 rubles per U.S. dollar since the middle of September.