Dollar edges up against ruble

The weighted average exchange rate of the US dollar with "tomorrow" clearings rose to 28.64 RUR/USD at the beginning of the Unified Trading Session today. This is RUR 0.02 above the dollar's official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Russia for April 19. The highest price at the session was 28.67 RUR/USD. So, the ruble has weakened against the American currency.

On Friday last week, the dollar's exchange rate against the ruble rose by RUR 0.01. But trading activity was slow, and the trading volume for dollars with "tomorrow" clearings was just above $50m. Today, the trading volume amounted to $50m in the first 30 minutes of trading.

According to analysts, banks are buying more dollars due to a favorable situation with ruble liquidity. Experts at Project Financing Bank told RBC that interest rates on one-day ruble loans remained below 2.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the amount of dollar sales is low. Dealers say this is due to a drop in export proceeds and the reluctance of banks to sell dollars in large quantities at a time when the ruble weakens. Given that the dollar rises almost every day, banks wait until they can sell their dollars at the best exchange rate, according to dealers.