The ruble is only tumbling down due to the emotional reaction to the disturbing news, I am sure, financial analyst Mikhail Belyaev, PhD, said. Russians have naturally became anxious against the backdrop of the shocking news, and naturally, they began to buy dollars, which is their most obvious savings asset. However, the national currency will stabilize after the end of the special operation in Ukraine, Lenta.ru reports.
Mikhail Belyayev does not see any objective reasons for this sharp plummeting of the ruble; yet, the expert doubts the dollar will ever return to its previous rate. Rather, it will settle at about 80 rubles. The US currency exchange rate is above 115 rubles per dollar now.
“The main reason why the ruble may be falling is a drop in oil prices, which was the reason for the ruble’s devaluation in 2014, but oil prices are high at the moment,” economist Dmitry Afanasyev says. “A correction is quite possible after the geopolitical negative subsides, especially if oil prices remain in the range of $80-120 per barrel.”