MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s central bank expanded the upper limit for the ruble trading corridor again Monday after the currency slumped to a record low against the dollar last week.
The bank raised the upper limit of the target corridor, the bracket within which the regulator attempts to keep the ruble through market interventions, by 10 kopecks to 35-42 rubles against the euro-dollar basket.
The central bank has said it will conduct unlimited interventions to bring the ruble back within its target range if it strays outside of the corridor.
The corridor’s upper limit has increased by 1.95 rubles so far this year. It increased 1.4 rubles during the whole of 2013.
The ruble has been one of the fastest fallers amid emerging market currency declines this year. The currency has lost over 6 percent of its value against the euro-dollar basket since the start of 2014.
A weaker ruble means larger profits for Russian exporters and a state budget windfall, which is dependent on commodity exports. Officials have denied, however, that devaluation is a deliberate ploy to boost revenue.
