The expert explained the growth of the dollar by high demand for oil and gas

The dollar and euro exchange rates are rising on both the global and Russian markets due to the increasing demand for oil and gas, primarily oil. Inna Litvinenko, Candidate of Economics, Associate Professor of Economics and Management at the Russian State University of Social Technology, told Izvestia on March 19.

"Countries are trying to buy back all available oil reserves as soon as possible. This means that you need a currency to pay for these transactions. We continue to settle accounts in euros and dollars. I mean the whole world, and also, yes, Russia is settled in international reserve currencies, primarily the dollar and the euro," the expert said.

The second reason for the increased rate is that the Russian budget is currently interested in replenishing and covering its deficit as much as possible, Litvinenko said.

"Therefore, of course, we need a stronger dollar and euro than the ruble, so that the export revenue from the sale of oil and gas would have the maximum effect," the expert believes.

According to her, this situation has only a positive effect for Russia, as Russia and Iran receive $150 million daily from the global oil market. The inflation figures for the Russian market are still adequate — 2-3% for the last week of March. By the end of this year, GDP growth should be higher than by the end of 2025.

"At the same time, yes, we need to be prepared for inflation, because inflation has already gripped all countries of the world. The price of gasoline is rising, the price of oil is rising, which means that logistics, all basic products, and the entire consumer basket are growing. So far, due to the fact that we are oil suppliers, we can contain this situation, and we have low inflation. Because in the world market, in developed economies, which are currently trying to buy just oil and gas, their inflation is five and ten times higher," said Litvinenko.

Individuals currently do not need to perform any currency manipulation, the associate professor advised. Those who managed to buy the dollar and the euro at a favorable exchange rate have already done the right thing. Those who want to "jump into the last car" will find it difficult to find profitable exchange offices and banks that add on top of the purchase price for the consumer. But there is still such an opportunity, because the dollar and euro exchange rates will continue to rise due to rising oil prices.

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In turn, Taisiya Veprentseva, an economist and founder of the Delomant Group consulting company, said on March 19 that the weakening of the ruble in March was taking place against the background of high oil prices, which looks atypical for the foreign exchange market. Veprentseva called the imbalance of currency flows the key reason for the growth of the dollar. The volume of sales of foreign exchange earnings by exporters in February amounted to about $3.55 billion, while import needs reach $30-32 billion.

On the same day, it became known that the dollar exchange rate on the Russian interbank market rose above 87 rubles for the first time since April 10, 2024, according to trading data. At the same time, the European currency is also getting more expensive: the euro exchange rate increased by 1.31%, reaching the level of 97.29 rubles.

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