UAH holds below 16/USD, ruble extends gains

Макроэкономика 26.12.2014 Yesterday, the hryvnia declines a slight 0.29% to close at 15.82/USD. In Russia, the ruble rose 3.19% thanks to positive market news that the central bank spent US$15.7bn in FX reserves during the week of Dec 12-19. Reuters said that government representatives would again oversee state-run corporations' boards to insure that these companies do not hoard hard currency cash at their bank accounts and sell FX cash to the domestic FX market. Hence, Russia runs a soft capital control, avoiding direct blame.