The Central Bank of Russia is changing the procedure of calculating and publishing the official foreign exchange rates as the value of the ruble against the US dollar has plummeted over the past few weeks.
Announced on Monday, the Russian monetary regulator is addressing the currency market volatility by increasing the representativeness of the US dollar exchange rate against the ruble. Specifically, it is going to expand the time range for calculating the official dollar exchange rate against the ruble and will simplify the procedure for setting the official euro exchange rate against the ruble.
“The Bank of Russia will set the official dollar rate based on the Moscow Exchange data on the weighted average dollar/ruble exchange rate for transactions concluded from 10:00 to 16:30 Moscow time. Previously, the calculation period was 10:00 [to] 11:30 Moscow time,” the draft document, which has been sent for registration with the Ministry of Justice, stated.
According to the central bank, the expansion of the time range for the calculation of the rates will allow it to consider a larger number of transactions during a day.
For the euro, its official exchange rate against the ruble will be set in the same way as other foreign currencies. The regulator said that this move will make it easier to establish and publish rates.
Saving the Ruble
While Russia is the aggressor with its military power in Ukraine, its central bank is playing defensively to save the country’s economy from the rampant sanctions being imposed by Western governments.
The value of the Russian ruble against the US dollar went down by more than 30 percent in a week as several commercial banks were banned from using SWIFT by the European Union. To save the value of the rubble and maintain a reserve of the US dollar, the Russian central bank even temporarily has banned the sale of foreign currencies in the country.
