Ruble volatility not serious

The Central Bank of Russia does not view the current ruble volatility as serious and is not planning to change the existing currency intervention parameters, Deputy Bank Chairman Sergei Shvetsov said. Currency interventions have been used extensively by the Central Bank of Russia, historically, as a means to smooth out ruble rate fluctuations that it didn’t consider due to economic fundamentals. But Deputy Chairman Shvetsov indicated that recent ruble volatility was not considered excessive. “The volatility of the ruble within our corridor is not serious, it suits us… We have not changed the mechanism for currency interventions: $500 million for 5 kopecks, Shvetsov said, adding that the corridor for the bi-currency basket remained at 32.15-38.15 rubles. If accumulated interventions reach a maximum level of $500 million, the boundaries of the floating corridor are shifted by 5 kopecks. The Central Bank has set the corridor boundaries for the bi-currency basket at $0.55 and 0.45 euros. The floating operational interval is 6 rubles, which can be shifted depending on currency intervention volumes. At of 1 pm Moscow time Friday, the bi-currency basket was 37.42 rubles.