The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, has acknowledged the possible use of "non-market" tools to keep the ruble exchange rate within a set corridor. As Shokhin stated on August 21, such an approach would help avoid excessive volatility of the national currency, although he called the topic itself a separate conversation.
The Idea of a Currency Corridor Is Not New
Shokhin has voiced the idea of introducing a corridor for the ruble before. In late May, in an interview with RIA Novosti, he pointed out that the ruble exchange rate under current conditions could hardly be called fully market-based — due to the limited volume of the currency segment and reduced demand for foreign currency. According to him, many colleagues in the business community propose fixing a corridor and maintaining it using not entirely market methods, but for the sake of predictability.
How Business Wants to See the Ruble by the End of 2026
Back at the end of December 2025, Shokhin outlined the benchmarks that businesses expect to see by the end of 2026: the Bank of Russia's key rate at 12%, inflation in the range of 4–5%, and the dollar exchange rate around 90–95 rubles. He then explained that a turning point for the return of investments would be a rate reduction to 12% with 6% inflation, although truly comfortable parameters for doing business are slightly lower than these values. "But how to, so to speak, turn dreams into reality, I think few people know. So we'll move forward by touch, as they say," acknowledged the head of the RUIE.
In the same conversation, Shokhin clarified that it would be comfortable for businesses to see a single-digit key rate — below 10%. Separately, he emphasized the importance of predictability of the national currency for companies' investment decisions.
The position of the RUIE head forms a consistent picture: from specific numerical benchmarks for the rate, inflation, and exchange rate to the idea of administratively holding the ruble in a corridor for the sake of stability. Shokhin directly links all three topics — the rate, inflation, and the exchange rate — with the readiness of business to invest in new projects.
AI Opinion
From the perspective of data analysis, the idea of a currency corridor for the ruble is not new: a similar mechanism was already used in Russia in 1995–1998, when the Central Bank kept the dollar exchange rate within fixed boundaries through regular interventions. The regime lasted for three years and ended with a sharp widening of the corridor against the backdrop of the August default — an episode still described as an example of the fragility of rigid benchmarks during external shocks.
The macroeconomic link here is obvious: the stricter the corridor is maintained, the more reserves are required to defend it during periods of pressure on the currency. The technical aspect that remains outside the scope of the conversation is the specific sources and volume of such interventions under conditions of limited currency market liquidity. Whether the current discussion will remain theoretical or translate into specific corridor parameters will be seen in the coming months.
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