Most experts wonder what government influences the Russian ruble the most – the US government or the Russian one. Some of them think that the United States is to be blamed for putting the ruble under pressure. Other experts believe that Moscow benefits from the cheap ruble that provides the country with a competitive advantage on the global markets.
The Russian economy is commodity-based: its health greatly depends on the exports of natural resources that are sold for foreign currencies. Consequently, the cheaper the ruble is, the more benefits can be reaped. The US President shares this opinion. He accused Moscow and Beijing of devaluing their currencies. “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the US keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable!” Trump said.
However, some experts took the side of Russia. “The message from the president on the currency did not make sense,” said IMF former board member Doug Rediker. “One could argue that any weaker Russian currency would not be the result of Russian manipulation for competitive advantage, but rather the result of actions taken by the US,” he added. Thus, opinions on this issue differ. Meanwhile, the greenback has obviously taken the lead in the pair with the Russian currency. The recently imposed sanctions prove this fact, causing a crash on the Russian stock market and a fall in the ruble exchange rate.
