[littlestymaar]

Having to pay in rubble is the reason why rubble is strong vs Euro (because you need to buy rubble, in order to pay for gas)

[lesuorac]

What definition of strong are you using? Ruble (only one l) has historically been around 85:1 and now its ~60:1. (Rubles:Euros, i.e. 85 Rubles for 1 Euro)

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=EUR&to=RUB

[hervature]

That is the definition of strong. You need fewer rubles now for 1 euro. Just like you need fewer USD for 1 euro now.

[littlestymaar]

> Ruble (only one l)

Indeed, thanks. Not a native speaker here, and I got everything mixed up with the early-war pun “the Ruble is going to rubble”

> What definition of strong are you using? Ruble […] has historically been around 85:1 and now its ~60:1. (Rubles:Euros, i.e. 85 Rubles for 1 Euro)

Yes, that means Ruble's purchasing power increased by 40% (one Ruble could buy you ~1.2 euro cent, and now it buys you ~1.7).

[s1artibartfast]

That means it is about 40% stronger than it historically has been.

IF you had your money in Rubles last year, can buy 40% more of a product than if you had your money in Euros.

[lostmsu]

What product can you buy with rubles?

[s1artibartfast]

Wheat and gas, or better yet, euros to get anything elae

[littlestymaar]

> anything* else

*not under sanctions.

[s1artibartfast]

Sanctions don't stop a forex investor from trading the rubles they own for euros and buying whatever they want

[EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK]

The ruble is strong because imports have been cut in half due to sanctions, while exports continue unabated. Actually, Europe sends more money to Russia now than before the war.

[downrightmike]

It's strong because they are burning foreign currency and stopping people from pulling out. Same thing that Sri Lanka did.

[littlestymaar]

They did that indeed, especially in the early days to avoid a complete collapse, but since then it's not the primary mechanism at stake.

This is a great reminder that keeping your money afloat is not that hard as long as you can export. (For the record, what destroyed Venezuela comes from the fact that they needed to import light oil in order to process their heavy one. Once the sanctions cut the input flow, the output flow dried up pretty quickly and it was game over)

I don't think it will matter long, given the catastrophic failure of the Russian military (which is currently demilitarizing Russia pretty quickly, how ironic), but from the economics PoV it's still interesting to witness.