By Chiara Albanese
LONDON--A senior official from Russia's central bank echoed a
familiar line Wednesday in signaling little opposition to the
sliding ruble.
"Politically it is easier to work with decreasing than
increasing ruble, as a strengthening ruble is a problem," said
Sergey Shvetsov, deputy chairman of the central bank, at a
conference in London.
The dollar now trades around 41 against the ruble, which has
fallen heavily this year in light of the conflict in Ukraine and
international sanctions on Russia. The Russian currency now stands
near its lowest levels on record.
"We are targeting inflation and not exchange rate directly," Mr.
Shvetsov said, adding that "in our best-case scenario sanctions
will be lifted in 2015."
The official also said he sees limited scope for a further slide
in oil prices, one of the causes of the recent drop in the
currency.
Meanwhile, the central bank is monitoring inflation closely,
with a medium-term target of 4%, Mr. Shvetsov said. Inflation rates
in the country stood at 8% year-on-year in September. "Inflation is
quite high but growing [in a controlled manner]. Russians are
tolerant to growing prices because unemployment is nowhere close in
their horizon," he said.
Write to Chiara Albanese at chiara.albanese@wsj.com