The ruble retreats against the euro, the EU prepares new sanctions | Photo credits: Shutterstock – Ufuk ZIVANA
May 6 (Reuters) – The Russian ruble fell sharply on Friday, coming back from a high in more than two years against the euro, in the prospect of new European sanctions against Russia.
The European Commission has tweaked its proposal for an embargo on Russian oil to try to convince the most reluctant member states to adopt it, in particular by extending the period of exemption granted to Hungary, Slovakia, sources said on Friday. Europeans to Reuters.
At around 1:15 p.m. GMT, the Russian currency, which set a high since February 2020 against the European single currency at 69.1250, fell 3.12% to 73.14.
Against the dollar, the ruble fell 2.3% to 69.24 but remained close to its highest level in more than two years reached on Thursday at 65.3125.
After its crash at the end of February during the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian currency has benefited in recent weeks from the obligation for exporting companies to convert their foreign currency earnings into rubles.
Amid falling imports and restrictions on cross-border transactions, demand for dollars and euros has also been reduced recently.
“It looks like the ruble has found a new equilibrium point around 67, at least for now,” Sberbank CIB analysts wrote in a note, adding, however, that they expect the Russian currency to appreciate by now. the end of the month around 60 against the greenback. (Report Frank Jack Daniel, Mark Potter and Chizu Nomiyama; French version Claude Chendjou, editing by Kate Entringer)