The Central Bank set the exchange rates of the dollar and the euro for the New Year holidays

On December 30, 2023, the official exchange rate for the dollar was 89.69 rubles and the euro was 99.19 rubles. Thus, the official exchange rate of the US currency against the ruble increased by 13.37% during the year and the European currency by almost 7%.

Previously, the Central Bank had said that the regulator would set exchange rates for January 10 on the first business day of 2025: January 9. Similarly, the Bank of Russia will update discount prices for refined precious metals: on December 28, for the period from December 29, 2024 to January 9, 2025, and on January 9, for on January 10.

The day before, December 27, the dollar in the Forex currency market exceeded 107 rubles and the euro exceeded 110 rubles. T-Investments chief economist Sofia Donets noted that the Forex market is “quite specific” and the exchange rate “could be affected by the closing of spot positions in currency instruments.”

On the same day, the Central Bank changed the procedure for setting official exchange rates in order to “increase their representativeness.” Now the regulator will rely on combined data from the foreign exchange and over-the-counter segments of the foreign exchange market. After the introduction of US sanctions against the Moscow Stock Exchange, the Central Bank set rates based on data from bank reports on transactions in the over-the-counter foreign exchange market.

Economists polled by Reuters predicted that at the beginning of 2025 the dollar would be trading at 100 rubles, but by the end of the year it would rise to 108 rubles. According to analysts, the figure of 100 rubles will become a “new equilibrium level”, since the ruble will rely on the stabilization of foreign trade transactions violated by sanctions and other factors.