MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - The ruble could stop appreciating in 2011, a senior official of the Central Bank of Russia said Monday.
"In 2007, the national currency will strengthen slower than in 2006. In 2011, the ruble's appreciation could possibly stop," CBR First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said.
Ulyukayev spoke at a session of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, on a draft federal budget for 2008-2010.
Ulyukayev said the period of the national currency's appreciation, which has lasted 10 years, is coming to an end.
As world oil prices are expected to drop, Russia's Finance Ministry Monday revised downward its crude price forecast from $61 to $55 per barrel in 2007, from $56 to $53 per barrel in 2008, and from $52 to $50 in 2009.
In coming years, money supply and the monetary base will also shrink, Ulyukayev said.
