What is the Russian Ruble (RUB)?

Credit Ratings & Outlook

Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country’s access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets.

Central Bank Rate

The current central bank interest rate is 8.00%. This is the same as 2011, which was 8.00%.

GDP

In 2010 the total GDP was $1,479,819,314,058 in US Dollars, while the per capita GDP was $10,439. It grew by 4.03% over the previous year.

Unemployment

The latest unemployment rate for 2012 is 6.40%.

Consumer Price Index

The latest consumer price index for 2010 is 162.77.

Political Structure

The current head of the government is Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and the head of state is President Vladimir Putin (in an executive role).

Currency Details

The Russian ruble, often denoted by RUB (and alternatively spelled rouble), is the name of the currencies of the Russian Federation and Belarus (and formerly, of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire). The ruble has been the Russian unit of currency for several centuries, and its name stems from the Russian verb rubit, meaning, “to chop.” Historically, “ruble” was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna). The ruble was the Russian equivalent of the mark, a measurement of weight for silver and gold used in medieval Western Europe. In ancient times, the currency was also called “tselkovyi.” The modern ruble was introduced in 1992 when the former USSR split. Periods of high inflation brought about different issues of banknotes from 1992-1995. In 1998, when a monetary reform took place, the new ruble replaced the old one at a 1:1000 rate. In 2001, modified banknotes emerged, which included improved security features. Ever since the election of President Putin (1999) many positive changes can be observed with the ruble.

Moody’s Rating

Baa1, 16 Jul 2008

S&P Rating

BBB

Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country’s access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets.

What does it look like?

Political Structure

The Russian Federation is a federal republic led by a President, who is directly elected for a four-year term. The President nominates the highest state officials, namely the prime minister, and has the ability to pass decrees without consent from Parliament. The President, who also heads the armed forces and the National Security Council, is considered to possess utmost executive power in the Russian government. The bicameral Parliament is entitled the Federal Assembly (Federalnove Sobraniye). The Parliament consists of an upper house, known as the Federation Council, which is comprised of 178 delegates who each serve a four-year term. The lower house, the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), is made up of 450 deputies who serve four-year terms as well. The members of the State Duma are half elected by direct popular vote, and half elected by proportional representation from nation-wide party lists. However, legislation as of mid-2005 suggests that this is subject to change.

Prominent Figures

Chief of State President Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 7 May 2008)
Head of Government Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 8 May 2008); First Deputy Premiers Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV and Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 12 May 2008), Aleksandr KHLOPONIN (since 19 January 2010), Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008), Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 24 September 2007), Igor Ivanovich SECHIN (since 12 May 2008), Sergey Semenovich SOBYANIN (since 12 May 2008), Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004)
Cabinet Ministries of the Government or “Government” composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president
Elections president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 2 March 2008 (next to be held in March 2012); note – the term length was extended to six years in late 2008, to go into effect following the 2012 presidential election; there is no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma
Election Results Dmitriy MEDVEDEV elected president; percent of vote – Dmitriy MEDVEDEV 70.2%, Gennady ZYUGANOV 17.7%, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY 9.4%, Andrey BOGDANOV 1.3%

Key Economic Factors

Gross Domestic Product:

The GDP is a measure of the total production and consumption of goods and services in the Russian Federation. The changes in the values of GDP are used to determine business cycle peaks and troughs. There are important changes in Russia’s GDP that is noteworthy. Increases in exports can signal greater energy production and pipeline capacity. Household consumption trends give information towards labor market conditions. Lastly, fixed capital formation gives insights towards domestic confidence in economic prospects.

Industrial Production:

The industrial production index gives comprehensive data for Russian industrial activity for the whole industry or broken down across sectors. Consistent increases in Russia’s industrial activity affects investor’s feelings towards debts and will create interest in Russia as rising market economy.