Ruble will continue floating freely. Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Russia’s central bank, said that she did not see the possibility to refuse the floating exchange rate. She added that the economy adjusts faster to external shocks and there are no sound reasons to change the existing strategy.
It was exactly the flexible exchange rate that helped the Russia’s economy to cope with the Western sanctions. Moreover, this decision was highly appreciated by the colleagues. It should be noted that Elvira Nabiullina was named the best Central Bank Governor in Europe in 2016 by the international financial magazine, The Banker. “Undoubtedly, there is fear of “floating” in the Russia’s economy. Everyone got used to the fact the rate is stable and is changing due to crises. (…) Though, the volatility has diminished considerably after the floating exchange rate introduction. At the moment it declined to the level registered in the countries with emerging markets. It is considerably lower than the oil volatility,” Elvira Nabiullina said. The Russian currency started off moving freely in December 2014 when the Central bank adopted the decision to eliminate the exchange rate corridor.
