MOSCOW, October 21 The authorities have tools to influence the ruble exchange rate to be predictable and stable, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview.
In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a fragment of which the journalist published on his Telegram channel, the minister commented on the question of whether the situation with the exchange rate is stabilizing and how this affects the prices of imported goods.
“Yes, of course, the exchange rate affects prices. For us, as I always say, predictability is important. Recently, the government and the president decided on certain measures to control the return of foreign currency earnings. I think this is one of the elements of stabilizing the exchange rate. We’ll see. how it will work because it will take time to analyze. At the end of the day, we have the tools to influence the rate to be predictable and sustainable,» he said.
The minister also answered the question of whether he sees preconditions in the Russian economy for the ruble exchange rate to plummet. “I don’t see such (grounds — ed.),” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed a decree on the mandatory repatriation of foreign currency earnings for a number of companies for 6 months and their sale on the Russian market. At the same time, individual companies will be required to submit plans and schedules for the purchase and sale of foreign currency on the domestic market to the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring.
Later, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported that exporters, according to the presidential decree, are obliged, from October 16, to credit accounts in the Russian Federation with at least 80% of foreign exchange earnings within 60 days of receipt, and then sell at least 80% of these funds on the domestic market. 90% and at the same time at least half of the revenue received under each contract. In this case, the list of companies will not be published.