Russian ruble fell against dollar to its lowest level in more than 3 weeks

The Russian ruble fell against the dollar to its lowest level in more than three weeks in Moscow markets on Monday as oil prices fell and after the Russian currency lost the support of a favorable tax collection period at the end of last month.

At 0729 GMT, the ruble depreciated by 1.1 percent against the dollar, reaching 62.30 rubles per dollar, and it had earlier touched 62.4875. The Russian currency lost 1.9 percent of its value against the euro to 63.66.

High oil prices and a strong current account surplus halted some losses in the past week, but the ruble has so far lost about 7 percent of its value against the dollar.

A few days ago, the period of paying taxes, which usually sees export companies transferring their foreign currency revenues to pay local dues, ended.

It is very possible that the ruble will soon weaken temporarily to between 63 and 65 against the dollar, Bolivoy said.