The booming consumer market is the basis for the free exchange of rubles. The picture shows that in May this year, in an Auchan supermarket in Moscow, many people were shopping for wines from all over the world. Xie Yibin

According to Yediot Izvestia, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development kirill Androsov announced on June 5438+05 that Russia will build its own oil exchange in the next few months and settle accounts in rubles. Earlier, in his State of the Union address in May 10, President Putin suggested speeding up the process of freely convertible ruble, and suggested "speeding up overcoming the remaining obstacles and completing this work as soon as possible before July 10 this year". In this regard, Russian Finance Minister Kudrin said: "This task can be completed."

87% people are willing to settle their wages in rubles.

Unlike 1998 during the financial crisis, people sold rubles to buy dollars. In the last two years, more and more Russians are willing to hold rubles. Especially recently, every time a reporter went to the Moscow Savings Bank to handle affairs, he found that many people were waiting in line to change their dollars into rubles. And they usually exchange a large amount, at least 2000-3000 dollars at a time.

According to a recent report in the Russian News Times, at present, Russians prefer to settle their wages in rubles rather than dollars. In particular, they don't want to read any disrespectful comments on their own currency in newspapers and periodicals. According to a survey conducted by the All-Russian Social Public Opinion Research Center, the ruble continues to be strong, and the real effective exchange rate of the ruble has increased by 6.5% since the beginning of the year. Therefore, people think that it is the most cost-effective to settle wages in rubles, and 87% of the respondents hold this view. Only 4% of the respondents want to receive their salary in euros, and 3% want to receive their salary in dollars. Sergei Glaz, a member of the Russian State Duma, said in a speech at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry a few days ago that the dollar, euro and yen are not as strong as before, and Russia should take this opportunity to take effective measures to ensure the convertibility of the ruble. He also said that Russia can take advantage of its rotating presidency of the Group of Eight to achieve this goal.

It is a reflection of the steady economic development.

The sustained strength of the ruble is closely related to the steady development of the Russian economy in recent years. From 2000 to 2005, at constant prices (excluding inflation and currency depreciation), Russia's annual economic growth rate was above 4%. In 2005, Russia's GDP (gross domestic product) reached 2 1.67 trillion rubles (about 770 billion US dollars), and its per capita GDP also exceeded 5,300 US dollars.

In response to the argument of some western media that "Russia's economic growth is entirely driven by rising oil prices", Russian Prime Minister Fradkov pointed out that Russia's economic structure has undergone qualitative changes. Oil accounts for only about 1/3 of the Russian economy, and the strong growth of domestic demand has become one of the important factors for the substantial growth of the Russian economy. An obvious sign is that the purchasing power of the Russian people is constantly improving. Last year, Russia added 50 million mobile phones, with a total population of only 65.438+0.4 billion. At present, the total number of mobile phones has reached 65.438+0.2 billion.

In addition, there are all kinds of consumer goods in shopping malls in Moscow. The reporter found in a local Auchan supermarket last week that red wine, white wine and all kinds of wine utensils from all over the world are very complete, and many people buy them, and the business is very prosperous.

RMB has become a hard currency in Russia.

At the same time, the RMB officially entered the Russian foreign exchange market. According to the news released by the Russian central bank, starting from May this year 1 1, the Russian central bank will announce the exchange rate of RMB against ruble every day. On that day, the exchange rate of RMB against ruble was 1: 3.377. In Russia, the central bank determines the exchange rate of 18 foreign currency against the ruble every day and 104 foreign currency against the ruble every month. Previously, the RMB was only included in the monthly exchange rate list against the ruble, instead of publishing the exchange rate every day. The Russian newspaper, published on May 12, commented that the RMB has now "become the hard currency of Russia" like the US dollar and the euro. The newspaper said that the trade volume between Russia and China in 2005 was $29 1 billion, an increase of 37% over 2004. Nowadays, in the Russian Far East, where the trade between the two countries is the most concentrated, residents prefer RMB to USD or EUR when choosing foreign exchange savings. The newspaper believes that nowadays, "RMB has become a very important role in the international financial market".

There is still a long way to go for the ruble to grow.

Although the current situation of the ruble is excellent, many experts have calmly pointed out the shortcomings of the ruble. The Russian newspaper Izvestia believes that although the ruble will soon become a freely convertible currency, this practice cannot immediately "turn the ruble into dollars". Because the free convertibility of the ruble is conditional ―― within a year or two, buyers will have confidence in the ruble.

Camburov, an official of the Russian central bank, said at a meeting of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry not long ago that only when Russia has established a developed financial market can the ruble become a real world currency. He thinks the overseas demand of ruble is more important. Even if Russia can agree to sell oil and gas and other raw materials in exchange for rubles, these funds can't stay in bank accounts forever. Therefore, a sound financial market is essential. But the establishment of this market will take at least a few years to realize. Therefore, the road for the ruble to become a real world currency is still "long and arduous". ▲