According to Interfax article published on April 10 , 2023, current declines for the ruble are prompted by the fall in export revenues after the introduction of the oil price cap, and the situation will level out in the future, Central Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Alexei Zabotkin said at a joint working group meeting to prepare for the consideration of the CBR's annual report for 2022 in the State Duma.
"What is a factor is that, indeed, export revenues have declined. This is due to the fact that export revenues follow sales volumes and sales prices with a certain lag, because we ship goods today, but the export revenues for them arrive in a month and a half, two, three months later. That's just the way the technology of payments is set up," Zabotkin said.
Export revenues currently reflect the situation with prices and volumes, primarily oil and gas exports, seen in late December - early January, "when the situation was the most challenging in terms of the effects of the price cap," Zabotkin said.
"After we pass the low point associated with the introduction of the cap on petroleum products, which happened in February, then export earnings will begin to recover. At the same time, imports, as we know, are growing steadily, including for reasons related to the need for production chains and so on to recover. In these conditions, this weakening of the exchange rate is the result of the fact that we are now bottoming out in terms of export earnings due to its slump at the beginning of the year. The trend will be smoother going forward," Zabotkin said.
