Floating ruble is an achievement of economic policy, a pillar of macro stability - Siluanov

MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) - The ruble's floating exchange rate is one of the achievements of Russian economic policy in the modern era and a pillar of macroeconomic stability, so abandoning it would be a mistake, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

On the eve of VTB's Russia Calling! forum, the state bank's first deputy CEO, Dmitry Pyanov proposed discussing the advisability of preserving the floating exchange rate at the forum's macroeconomic session. He said there is a problem with the determination of the ruble's exchange rate and it is necessary to acknowledge this issue and discuss a floating exchange rate corridor as a possible alternative.

"With what to compare? The ruble has been at 60 and 70 and 100 [per $1]... Today it happens to be the middle between the boundaries that we recently went through. If boundaries are set, then, accordingly, they must be maintained, meaning either intervention or purchases on the market by the Central Bank will be needed, and this already leads to the non-market status of the ruble and this, I think, takes away all the gains that have been achieved in recent years, specifically inflation targeting, the floating exchange rate, the fiscal rule," Siluanov told reporters.

"This is one of the pillars of macroeconomic stability, so I cannot support Pyanov's proposal to set boundaries," he said.