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This is a weirdly hostile and condescending answer to a serious question. If the international exchange value of the ruble were zero Russians could still theore

by cirgue 5y ago

This is a weirdly hostile and condescending answer to a serious question. If the international exchange value of the ruble were zero Russians could still theoretically do these things, exchange value matters for doing business across borders/currencies at some point. Are we saying the exchange value of the ruble is being propped up by Russians who have dollar- or euro-denominated accounts purchasing rubles to run to the store to get eggs? That seems absurd.

sgjohnson 5y ago
> Are we saying the exchange value of the ruble is being propped up by Russians who have dollar- or euro-denominated accounts purchasing rubles to run to the store to get eggs? That seems absurd. Except they passed a law that made ordinary Russians to convert their currency holdings to at least 80% RUB Here's a source that mentions "exporters", but recently they extended this to cover absolutely everyone. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/ruble-russia-central-bank/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/ruble-russia-cen...
- cirgue 5y ago
  This is my point. There’s more to this question than just “well the Russians want to buy things”
- patrakov 5y ago
  The article is inaccurate, unless the law on paper and the actually applied rules are different. Regarding the mandatory 80% sale of foreign-currency income, on paper, it does not apply to the income earned before 2022-01-01. So the majority of my EUR balance is still in my account.] The ban for making bank transfers outside Russia, on paper, applies only to transfers to one's own accounts abroad. There are reports that SWIFT transfers from non-sanctioned banks to accounts held by others still work - but I haven't tested this. Heh, it might be a good time to buy a small villa abroad while this is still legal ;)
HyprMusic 5y ago
If the international value of the Ruble falls below it's fair value then buyers of Russian produce and exports would start buying more Russian stuff (since it's now cheaper than the competitors) and demand for the Ruble would increase back to its fair value.
- soco 5y ago
  Unless there were things like sanctions to come in the way of buying Russian stuff...

by cirgue 5y ago

sgjohnson 5y ago

> Are we saying the exchange value of the ruble is being propped up by Russians who have dollar- or euro-denominated accounts purchasing rubles to run to the store to get eggs? That seems absurd. Except they passed a law that made ordinary Russians to convert their currency holdings to at least 80% RUB Here's a source that mentions "exporters", but recently they extended this to cover absolutely everyone. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/ruble-russia-central-bank/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/ruble-russia-cen...

cirgue 5y ago
This is my point. There’s more to this question than just “well the Russians want to buy things”
patrakov 5y ago
The article is inaccurate, unless the law on paper and the actually applied rules are different. Regarding the mandatory 80% sale of foreign-currency income, on paper, it does not apply to the income earned before 2022-01-01. So the majority of my EUR balance is still in my account.] The ban for making bank transfers outside Russia, on paper, applies only to transfers to one's own accounts abroad. There are reports that SWIFT transfers from non-sanctioned banks to accounts held by others still work - but I haven't tested this. Heh, it might be a good time to buy a small villa abroad while this is still legal ;)

HyprMusic 5y ago

If the international value of the Ruble falls below it's fair value then buyers of Russian produce and exports would start buying more Russian stuff (since it's now cheaper than the competitors) and demand for the Ruble would increase back to its fair value.

soco 5y ago
Unless there were things like sanctions to come in the way of buying Russian stuff...