The Russian ruble has remained one of the strongest world currencies for the last one-year period. According to financial analysts, the ruble’s exchange rate does not depend on the price of oil as much as it did earlier, although not all problems of the Russian currency are associated with oil dependence.

Analysts have said that the ruble remained stable throughout all of 2017, and in particular in the month of August. Traditionally, August presented dangers for the Russian currency due to declines in the balance of payments, and the Russian companies’ converting their profits into foreign currencies. Russia’s national currency averted the downward trend this year in large part thanks to good macroeconomic figures, especially the consumer inflation index.

While in the past, the ruble’s exchange rate was sensitive to the variations in the price of oil on a daily basis, the currency now reacts to only major oil sector milestones. Recent events in the oil markets, such as the OPEC’s agreement with Russia to continue holding down production, have mostly been conducive to the ruble’s gaining in value.

The high return rates that Russian bonds offer to Western investors also reflect favorably on the ruble’s value. Investors from abroad purchased a considerable amount of Russian government bonds during the month of August, altogether to the tune of USD2 billion.

For all the good developments, further increases in the ruble’s value are not likely.

As the Russian Central Bank cuts its key interest rate from 8.5 percent to the projected seven percent, the interest of foreign investors to buy Russian government bonds will diminish. On the contrary, if interest rates go up in the United States, investors would be likely to keep their funds in the U.S.