The Russian ruble rose again on Friday on the Moscow Stock Exchange in the final trade of the week, with the exchange rate against the dollar reaching its best level in a month for Russia’s national currency, Reuters reported.

In the first hours of trading on Friday, the ruble rose by 1.2%, reaching parity of 95.85 rubles for one dollar, which is the strongest rate of the Russian currency since September 22. It also gained 1.4% against the euro to 101.4 to one and 1.3% against the yuan.

“Over the past two days, the ruble has been showing more pronounced attempts to strengthen,” says Oleksiy Antonov from the Alor Broker firm. “This is quite logical, as exporters increase sales of foreign currency before the peak of the tax season,” he added.

He cites the fact that Russian exporters usually convert their currency at the end of the month to pay taxes and other current payment obligations they have.

The ruble also rose after new capital controls imposed by President Vladimir Putin took effect earlier this week. They are forcing 43 major Russian exporters to “repatriate” 80% of their revenues in national currency and sell almost all the currency they have.

Analysts also note that the ruble also strengthened against the background of expectations of another interest rate increase by the Central Bank of Moscow.

Elvira Nabiullina’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate twice in recent months, on August 15 and September 15, after the ruble’s slide sparked outrage in Russia and drew rare criticism from the Kremlin and its propagandists.

The ruble is showing signs of recovery after the extreme measure adopted by the Russian government

However, the increase in interest rates was not enough to stop the massive fall of the ruble since the beginning of the year, and in early October the rate of the Russian national currency again approached the psychological threshold of 100 rubles to the dollar.

Putin ordered the government, led by Prime Minister Mykhailo Mishustin, to reimpose capital controls, as they did in the first weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine, after the ruble hit 101-102 against the dollar.

Investors betting on a strong ruble are hoping Russia’s central bank will raise its key interest rate again at its next board meeting on Oct. 27.

Moscow’s central bank raised key interest rates by 550 basis points from July to 13%, with economists also expecting further hikes that would further boost the ruble’s rise against foreign currencies once capital controls are reinstated.

Many analysts see this measure as a last resort, as it hits Russian exporters hard. Also, while the weak ruble helps exports, it makes imports more expensive when Russia needs them to get electronic components and other high-tech equipment for its military machine.

Last year, Vladimir Putin ordered in March that exporters convert 80 percent of their export earnings into rubles to support the country’s financial stability, leading to a sharp appreciation of the Russian national currency in the following months.

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