The ruble rose as exporters bought the currency ahead of tax payments that begin this week and oil, Russia’s chief export earner, gained. The Russian currency appreciated 0.4 percent to 31.6300 against the dollar at 1:46 p.m. in Moscow. It was little changed versus the euro at 40.3300 and was 0.2 percent up against the central bank’s euro-dollar target basket. Russian companies are buying the ruble as government tax payouts begin tomorrow. Exporters yesterday sold an estimated $1 billion, according to Dmitry Polevoy, a Moscow-based economist at ING Groep NV. Oil rose 0.4 percent to $85.73 per barrel in New York. Crude and natural gas account for about 50 percent of Russia’s government revenue. “The tax period should support the ruble,� Polevoy said in an e-mailed note today. The ruble was further boosted as the euro rose against the dollar following a report that said Greece may get 44 billion euros ($56 billion) in a single aid payment, Andrey Volkov, head of foreign exchange and money markets at ZAO Natixis Bank in Moscow, said by e-mail. German newspaper Bild-Zeitung reported that Germany favored combining aid payments intended for Greece into a single package. Euro-area finance ministers gave Greece two extra years to lower its budget deficit yesterday, pledging to plug the resulting financing gaps in order to keep the country in the 17- nation currency bloc. This is “giving some support for risk on trades including the ruble,� Volkov said. Non-deliverable forwards showed the ruble at 32.1135 per dollar in three months compared with 32.2265 yesterday. The extra yield that investors demand to own Russia’s dollar bonds over U.S. Treasuries fell six basis points to 194, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index. An index of five-year government bond yields fell two basis points to 7.0480 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in London at lpronina@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

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