MOSCOW: The Russian ruble on Friday fell to its lowest rate against the dollar in a year, dipping to 82 rubles to the US unit on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Russia has been under massive sanctions imposed over the Ukraine offensive for more than a year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who has until now said Moscow is largely resisting the sanctions -- conceded last week that the punishments could have "negative" consequences for his country.
The dollar was trading at 82 rubles on the Moscow exchange office at 0740 GMT.
It last dipped that low in April last year, two months after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine operation.
Russia´s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Wednesday linked the rate to the inflows and outflows of foreign currency to Russia.
"These changes are associated with an increase in imports or with a reduction in export procedures," he said in an interview on state television.
He added the trend had been fluctuating in recent months.
Siluanov said the exchange rate "adheres to market principles, and completely floats in the conditions of changing foreign economic conditions."
Asked if Russians should be worried, he said the country could count on cash inflows from the energy it continues to sell on the global market.
"It is a signal that there will be more currency coming to the country, which means the exchange rate of the ruble will have a tendency for strengthening," Siluanov said. Russia has said it is adapting its economy to Western sanctions, a process it hopes to finish by 2024.
Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened on Friday after data showed an increase in jobs in the world's largest economy last month, suggesting that the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates next month.
Prior to the jobs report, the rate futures market had been betting that the Fed would pause at the May policy meeting. The market has now priced in a 70 percent chance the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), though multiple rate cuts have also been factored in by the end of the year.
Federal Reserve officials are likely to continue delivering their higher-for-longer message in the run-up to the May policy meeting, supporting expectations for a final rate hike and putting a floor under the dollar," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto.
That said, recent data would suggest that the economic risk backdrop is turning more negative - if inflation and retail sales numbers disappoint in coming weeks, all bets are off," he added.
Liquidity has thinned in the hours following the release of the jobs number ahead of the Easter weekend. Some European markets are also closed on Monday.
In afternoon trading, the dollar index rose 0.1 percent to 102.03 . Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.3 percent at 132.10 yen while the euro was 0.1 percent weaker at $1.0910 .
The greenback gained 0.2 percent versus the Swiss franc to 0.9049 francs. Sterling likewise fell against the dollar, down 0.2 percent at $1.2412 .
