VEB sees Russian ruble’s rate close to flat in late 2017

YEKATERINBURG, Jul 11 (PRIME) -- The rate of the Russian ruble is unlikely to be significantly different from the current rate of around 60 rubles per U.S. dollar at the end of 2017, state-owned Vnesheconombank’s (VEB) Deputy CEO Andrei Klepach told reporters on Tuesday.

“I think that (the rate of the U.S. dollar against the ruble) will not be significantly different from the current level (at the end of the year),” he said.

He also said that an increase of annual inflation to 4.4% in June from 4.1% in May will not push prices above the central bank’s 4% target for the year. “We’ve raised tariffs, we expected everything. I think that (achieving the 4% inflation target) is realistic. It will be clear in autumn when the harvest data are released. We may talk about it with certainty then,” he said.

Klepach said that the speed up of inflation might prompt the central bank to pause its cuts of the decrease of its key rate. In mid-June, the regulator cut the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to 9%.

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