PAVEL TRUNIN: “IT IS DIFFICULT TO BUILD FORECASTS FOR OIL PRICES IN THE CURRENT SITUATION”

Pavel Trunin, Director of Center for Macro-Economics and Finance of the Gaidar Institute, commented to “Svobodnaya Pressa” periodical on the forecast made by German Gref, CEO of Sberbank, on strengthening of Russian Ruble by the end of 2020 to RUB 60-62 per US Dollar.

According to the expert, it is difficult to build forecasts for oil prices in the current situation.

“As far as oil is concerned, it is difficult to make any forecasts in any situation, and now, when we do not know what will become of coronavirus, the price can reach any value. If oil actually goes up to RUB 62 per barrel, the Ruble can go back to the same values”, Pavel Trunin noted.

According to the expert, the decision of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) to print several trillion dollars, will not affect the Ruble exchange rate.

Pavel Trunin, an expert of the Gaidar Institute, concluded: “The FRS has been actively expanding its balance since the start of the epidemic. In recent weeks, however, statistics emerged that it started declining. However, until the end of this year, this will unlikely affect somehow the Ruble exchange rate.