Current appreciation of the ruble is a temporary phenomenon and has nothing to do with fundamentals, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin told journalists.
The minister noted that currency market environment was discussed at an economic meeting that the Russian president chaired.
"What we have seen over the past four weeks is certain strengthening of the ruble. Everybody thinks the same about this. We expect that those gains that we have seen in the market is a short-term trend and is not driven by any fundamental factors," the minister said.
According to him, there are two factors playing a key role here, namely capital inflows, including via related privatization deals, and seasonality factors. "The first quarter is typically a strong quarter in terms of the balance of payments. Import flows are always low at the beginning of a year. Now these factors are pushing the ruble higher," he added.
