Alexei Kudrin said in August that the government would use economic measures to hold back the ruble's further rise, and intended to keep the national currency's appreciation within 4.7% of its average effective rate this year.
"We are going to toughen the financial policy to reduce the ruble's appreciation rate," Alexei Kudrin told a finance conference in China.
The minister said the government was worried by the ruble's rise, as the currency exchange rate was expected to appreciate against the dollar by 17.4% in 2008, by 12.9% in 2007 and by at least 6.5% in 2006, compared to the rate on December, 31 1997, when the ruble was redenominated.
He said the ruble's real effective rate against foreign currencies has risen 8.1% over the past nine months compared to December 2005, adding that the rate for 2005 was 10.5%.
Kudrin said the ruble has completely recovered its rate against the dollar following its collapse in the 1998 default, when it dropped 46% on December 1997.
The main problem of the ruble's appreciation is that the trend can boost inflation, and Kudrin said Russia took pains to reduce inflation to 10.9% in 2005. But he said its rate is still high.
The government adjusted its 2006 inflation target earlier this year from 8.5% to 9%.
"The level of economy monetization is only 21%, which means a low demand for money, and insufficient investment activity," the minister said.
