One of Trump’s Two ‘Currency Manipulators’ Is Still at It

Donald Trump isn’t exactly getting his way with Russia since accusing it in April, alongside China, of “playing the currency devaluation game.”

Thanks to a fiscal mechanism in effect since 2017, a revenue windfall from oil and gas is spent on purchasing foreign currency in the domestic market and channeled into a sovereign fund when Russia’s Urals export blend is above $40 a barrel. Without this budget rule, the ruble would trade at about 50 versus the dollar at current oil prices, or almost 30 percent stronger than its present value, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.