The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has admitted that sanctions led to a decrease in the value of the ruble. A new round of sanctions in November caused short-term volatility in the foreign exchange market and weakened the national currency.
This was facilitated by a reduction in net sales of foreign currency by exporters. In a statement, the bank noted that sanctions against financial institutions, which affected international settlement infrastructure and the timing of export earnings as well as the purchase of foreign currencies by non-financial companies, caused a temporary reduction in exports by major exporters of 23% in November, to 8 billion US dollars.
Against this background, volatility in the foreign exchange market increased at the end of November, and the rate of ruble weakening accelerated. In general, the ruble depreciated by 11.0% against the US dollar and 8.4% against yuan over the month. In early December, the situation on the foreign exchange markets stabilized. From December 1 to 7, the rubble strengthened by 7.7% against USD, completely recovering from the depreciation at the end of Nov and returning to levels below Nov 21, according to the Central Bank of Russia.
The ruble’s exchange rate against dollar and euro fell after US imposition of sanctions on dozens Russian banks, including Gazprombank on November 22. Gazprom bank was the main channel for Russia to receive currency for sale of oil and gas
