The Central Bank named the reasons for the strengthening of the ruble in March

The ruble strengthened in March due to a good trade balance and demand for ruble assets. This was announced on April 8 by the Central Bank of Russia.

"The positive dynamics of the exchange rate were facilitated by a favorable ratio of export earnings and import payments, demand for ruble assets, as well as the fall of the US dollar in the global market," the regulator's website says.

At the same time, it is noted that due to the geopolitical situation and signals of maintaining tight monetary policy, the Moscow Exchange index showed negative dynamics in March. The regulator also drew attention to a small flow of investors from money market funds into stocks.

"Global uncertainty and the duties imposed by the United States on a number of countries contributed to an increase in gold prices, which showed the highest profitability in rubles for the month," the Bank of Russia added.

Export and hope for peace: what will determine the ruble exchange rate in the second quarter

The Russian currency will continue to be influenced by geopolitics.

Ivan Efanov, an analyst at Cifra Broker, told Izvestia on February 25 that, in addition to geopolitics, the strengthening of the ruble was influenced by an increase in net sales from exporters and a high key interest rate. In turn, Mikhail Zeltser, an expert on the stock market at BCS World Investments, noted that at the beginning of 2025 there were too many speculative bets against the ruble on the market, which eventually burned down, which increased the collapse in foreign exchange rates.