Ruble still one of the most attractive currencies among emerging markets - Morgan Stanley
MOSCOW. Mar 2 (Interfax) - Morgan Stanley still considers the Russian ruble one of the most attractive emerging market currencies, the investment bank said in an analytical note.
According to the company's analysts, the ruble will continue to move up in value over the short-term owing to two reasons.
The first reason is that the Central Bank of Russia has widened the bi-currency basket's corridor (set at 0.45 euro and $0.55) from four to five rubles as of March 1 (the lower guidance now comes to 32.45 rubles and the upper - 37.45 rubles). As a result, the regulator will have a calmer attitude to the Russian currency's movement upward, experts said.
Furthermore, the lowered the size of its interventions on Russia's currency market, which has caused a shift in the operational corridor of five kopecks, from $650 million to 600 million. This indicates that pressure on the ruble has contracted, analysts said. They forecast the ruble will be more responsive to Russia's balance of payments.
"We want see how the CB's new policy for the currency market will influence the ruble's rate. However, we believe that the changes announced yesterday will likely mean that the ruble will increase in value in the near future," the note said.
