What is the weighted average dollar exchange rate, and what effect does it have on official quotations of the Russian currency against the US currency? In January 2015, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation changed its key rate from 17% to 15%. A significant part of specialists was surprised at this decision. The fact is that most experts in the field of economics, analyzing the previous declarations of the heads of departments, came to the conclusion that the minimum interest rate will not be corrected in the near future. A similar decision by the Central Bank led to the depreciation of the Russian currency against the US dollar.
USD rate at the Central Bank of Russia
It is worth noting that the official ratio of Russian and American monetary units at that time was at a historic maximum and amounted to 69 rubles per 1 US dollar. In addition, stock quotes during this period sometimes reached 80 RUB / 1 USD. At the same time, the official rate set by the Central Bank of Russia was significantly lower than the aforementioned indicator. How is the official value of the ruble determined relative to other banknotes?
Methodology for determining exchange rates
The procedure for determining quotations of monetary units relative to the Russian ruble is regulated by the provisions of Russian legislation. According to these documents, the function of establishing and announcing the official exchange rates of foreign currencies is assigned to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
Initially, the ratio between the US dollar and the Russian ruble is established. Official quotes of other foreign currency units are accepted, starting from the already fixed value of one USD. In other words, the methodology for determining these rates involves the use of the ratio between currencies on international trading floors. For example, to set the Central Bank's value of the euro relative to the ruble, the situation at the Moscow Exchange trading with these two monetary units is not evaluated. In this case, the weighted average exchange rate of the US dollar against the euro is taken on international currency exchanges. See the next section for more details on how this indicator is determined.
Weighted Average Dollar
In order to determine this currency parameter, it is necessary to take into account not only the purchase price of the asset, but also the volume of this transaction at a specific price. For clarity, we give an example. Suppose we purchased 1 USD for 72 rubles and one more worth 74 rubles. In this case, the weighted average dollar exchange rate will be the arithmetic average of these two values, namely 73 RUB. At the same time, if we buy two US dollars at a price of 74 rubles, and one for 72 rubles, then this figure will be: (74 * 2 + 72) / 3 = 73.33 rubles.
It should be noted that when determining the official quotations of the American currency for the relative Russian ruble, the weighted average dollar exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation also takes into account. At the same time, the financial regulator does not undertake to purchase this currency at such a price. In this context, it should be emphasized that the official exchange rate of the monetary unit plays the role of a kind of indicator. Along with this, you can purchase American currency at commercial banks and private exchange points at a price close to the average dollar exchange rate.
It should be noted that even in the period of the so-called “currency panic”, when in some transactions the value of 1 USD reached 80 rubles, the volume of such operations amounted to a small part of all trades per day. Consequently, the weighted average US dollar rate was significantly lower than this mark, which, in turn, influenced the official rate set by the Central Bank the next day.