Siluanov: oil price cap putting pressure on ruble, but growth in imports more important factor for rate

MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax) - The entry into force of the price cap mechanism on Russian oil in early December is one of the factors putting pressure on the ruble rate in recent days, but it is not the only factor and not ever the primary one, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters on Thursday.

"First of all, imports [to Russia] are picking up, this [weakening of the ruble] is primarily owing to that. Now restrictions have been introduced on oil, on gas, they are not effective today in terms of financial consequences, but certainly they've had an impact on the morale of market participants," Siluanov said.

The losses incurred by the ruble in December will not require revision of the official inflation estimates for the year, as there is still a reserve relative to the forecast, the minister said.

"Our inflation is now below [that which is forecast for the year], so we believe that this will not affect our expectations for the current year at the moment," Siluanov said.

The official Economic Development Ministry inflation forecast for 2022 is 12.4%. Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said in early November that inflation in the year could be below the ministry's current forecast - in the range of 12.0%-12.4%. As of December 19, inflation since the start of the year totaled 11.88%.