The Russian Rouble was little changed in early Moscow trade on Friday, stabilising after hefty losses in the previous two weeks, after the central bank's decision to further restrict foreign currency access. The rouble was 1.4 percent firmer against the dollar at 116.8, but 1.0 percent weaker against the euro at 126.3 during morning session.
The local stock market was mostly closed on Friday due to a central bank decree that limited stock and bond trading after the West imposed economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. After restricting citizens' access to hard-currency cash earlier this week, the central bank imposed restrictions on local enterprises' access to foreign-currency cash for the next six months.
From March 10 through September 10, local businesses and entrepreneurs can get up to $5,000 in US dollars, Japanese yen, British pounds, and euros in cash to pay for abroad work visits. On Thursday, the central bank released the results of an analyst poll, which predicted that inflation would rise to 20 percent this year from approximately 10 percent this year, and that the GDP may fall by as much as 8 percent.
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