Ruble exchange rate near average level of past year, directional strengthening or weakening not apparent - CBR deputy governor

ST. PETERSBURG. July 3 (Interfax) - The current ruble exchange rate is near the average level of the past year, so one cannot speak of any directional strengthening or weakening in it, Central Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin said.

"For most of the last 12 months, the ruble exchange rate against the dollar was in the range of 75 to 85 rubles per dollar. Now it is somewhere around 77-78 rubles, roughly near the middle of this range, so we cannot say that over the last 12 months there has been some directional strengthening or weakening of the exchange rate," Zabotkin said at the Central Bank's Financial Congress.

"Even in relation to 2024, the strengthening of the average exchange rate is about 10%. This is, frankly speaking, not very much. This is comparable to the exchange rate fluctuations that have occurred in other currency pairs in the world over the same period," he said.