Dollar goes on rising - 3 February, 2004

The weighted average dollar exchange rate with tomorrow settlements amounted to RUR28.67 in early trade today, stepping up RUR0.14 against the official dollar rate set by the Central Bank for February 3. As reported earlier, yesterday the dollar added RUR0.04.

This course of events is probably due to the fact that the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry have recently changed their position on the necessity of further strengthening the ruble. In particular, Central Bank Senior Deputy Chairman Oleg Vyugin said that "the dollar came to a level below which it has no reason to fall". Commercial bank experts believe however that dollar growth on the domestic market will be short-lived.

The weighted average euro exchange rate amounted to RUR35.91, up RUR0.38 against the official euro rate set by the Central Bank for February 3. The euro has been spiraling up for a second day in a row. Yesterday, it added RUR0.17, according to earlier reports.

These developments are largely due to a decline in the dollar against the euro on foreign exchanges. The euro now costs $1.2560, up from $1.2460 as of yesterday.