Not only has this helped put the currency back on a more level footing, he suggests, it has also quelled the rising panic. ‘The stabilisation of the oil price since February caused speculative short ruble positions to be pared back,’ he says. This extremely volatile period in its history can be attributed to a wide variety of factors, including political instability, economic concerns and a wave of investment outflows, according to Angus Campbell, senior analyst at FxPro.
From the misery of last summer’s sharp depreciation of 125%, it nearly halved its losses in a matter of days, before falling again early in 2015 and then recovering gradually since February.Ī year ago USD/RUB (dollar/ruble) was trading at 35.00, meaning it would have cost RUB35 to buy a single US dollar, but after a dramatic fall in the ruble’s value this price had increased to a staggering RUB79 by December, according to data compiled by FxPro.Īlthough the situation improved slightly with USD/RUB moving back to 51.60 by Christmas, it then rose again to 71.78 before the ruble mounted a remarkable recovery to 51.80 by early April – an improvement of 34% from its lowest point back in December.
The Russian ruble has certainly endured a rollercoaster ride over the past year.
