Ruble Strengthens as Crude Oil Advances, Companies Pay Taxes

The ruble climbed as companies bought the currency to pay taxes and oil advanced, boosting the outlook for the world’s biggest energy exporter.

The ruble added 0.6 percent to 30.9600 by 7 p.m. in Moscow and gained 0.3 percent versus the euro to 40.1050. The currency was up 0.5 percent against the central bank’s target euro-dollar basket.

Crude in New York rose 0.8 percent to $92.64 per barrel. Oil and gas account for about 50 percent of Russia’s state revenue. Russian companies are paying about 400 billion rubles ($12.9 billion) of taxes this week, including mineral extraction and profit levies, according to Moscow-based ZAO Raiffeisenbank.

“The main factors influencing the ruble appreciation today are the recovery of oil prices and exporters’ converting revenue before tax payment,” Maria Pomelnikova, a macroeconomist at ZAO Raiffeisenbank, said by e-mail.

Non-deliverable forwards showed the ruble at 31.4405 per dollar in three months compared with 31.5975 yesterday.

The extra yield investors demand to own Russia’s dollar bonds over U.S. Treasuries fell four basis points to 206, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index. An index of five-year government bond yields compiled by the Micex fell three basis points to 7.610 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in London at lpronina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net