The Russian ruble has gained further value against the US dollar on Monday, edging up to 57 from a week’s earlier rate of 61. In last few days, the Russian ruble has emerged as the world’s strongest currency.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 28 and in the first week of March, the Russian ruble crashed to 128 against the US dollar in the backdrop of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and some European countries.
However, strategic strike of Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a strong support to the ruble and it surged to 57 on Monday (June 20), showing further improvement in its value.
In fact, the Russian President has linked gas payment with the Russian currency, which led to a rapid recovery in the value of ruble. Since March 2022, Russian Russian ruble has emerged as the best-performing currency in 2022, despite wide-ranging sanctions imposed for its invasion of Ukraine. It is nearly 30% higher against the US dollar, as of May 23, for the year. How did the Russian currency make a dramatic recovery from its record low of 143 rubles to the dollar on March 7?
The rally, experts say, is the result of capital controls imposed by Moscow in the wake of Western sanctions. While the ruble may look promising on paper, in reality, many money changers have stopped dealing in the currency because of the extreme volatility in its exchange rate due to low trade volumes.
Late in March, Russia insisted that European Union countries that purchase natural gas from Russia to make payment in rubles, rather than in dollars or euros. This was when the ruble was down 40% from pre-war levels, offering a good deal for buyers, which ultimately gave a new life to falling ruble in the international markets.
