Russia's ruble is having a banner year, but Moscow may ease a capital control that helped make it the world's top currency against the dollar, report says

• Russia could loosen a key wartime capital control to stem the ruble's climb, Bloomberg reports.
• Russian exporters may be required to convert 50% of their hard-currency revenue to rubles, down from 80%.

Russia could loosen a wartime capital control that helped send the ruble to its highest mark against the dollar in over four years, according to Bloomberg.

After Western sanctions froze Russia's overseas currency reserves for its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow imposed strict controls to prop up the currency, which at one point cratered to less than a penny.

One of those controls was a requirement that Russian exporters convert 80% of their hard-currency revenue to rubles. But Moscow may soon ease that to 50% this week, sources told Bloomberg.

Amid the capital controls, the ruble is now 30% stronger against the dollar than it was before Russia invaded Ukraine and the world's top-performing currency against the greenback. Demand for Russia's currency is also up as more nations appear to be complying with the Kremlin's requirement that energy products be paid for in rubles.

The ruble's appreciation has made Russian exports more expensive and less competitive abroad. On Monday, Russia's Vedomosti Daily reported that the central bank had started purchasing foreign currency to stop the ruble's climb.

The ruble was up about 4% against the dollar Monday, at about 57.85 — hovering near the 57.0750 it reached Friday, its strongest mark since March 2018.

Russia has eased other limits on foreign-exchange operations it had imposed at the start of the war. The central bank recently allowed Russians and non-residents to send as much as $50,000 in foreign currency abroad, up from $10,000.

Still, currency traders may stop using the onshore exchange rate for some transactions as the capital controls have created a bigger price difference compared to offshore rates, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Starting on June 6, the Trade Association for the Emerging Markets has recommended that traders use the rate from WM/Refinitiv to settle some derivative contracts.