Page 61 - RPTRusFeb17

A Bloomberg survey on the outlooks for EM FX investment in 2017 found that Russia and Brazil top the list of fund managers must haves this year so far. Russian bonds were also in high demand last year on the carry-trade. Indeed, the Bloomberg survey found most Russian assets are in high demand. In a survey of 16 investors and analysts conducted January 23 to February 1, Russia’s bonds and currencies got the strongest backing among 10 developing economies. China was the least favoured.
The Russian ruble was pushed off its 18-month peak on February 17 by suggestions that President Vladimir Putin could take up the issue of the strengthening ruble w ith the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin. The comments of Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov on February 15 led to a 2% decline in the ruble from its peak value of RUB56.6 to the US dollar. Although the loss was recovered in later trading, it shows the importance of the renewed policy debate over the equilibrium value of the currency. The ruble has been weak since it was floated in November 2014 by the Central Bank of Russia, a feature that became advantageous in 2015 as a more than halving of oil prices created a need to shield the ruble-denominated revenues of energy exporters, the main contributors to the state budget.
61 RUSSIA Country Report February 2017 www.intellinews.com