“ Currency exchange rates don’t lie, can’t be spun.”
How about the exchange rates of the Cuban Peso, and the North Korean Won?
They are most certainly spun. They are fixed by Government regulation.
The ruble is no longer a freely traded currency. The Russian Government now forces businesses to buy rubles, and legally forbids broad classes of individuals, businesses and organizations from selling rubles.
They can manipulate that official exchange rate to whatever number they want. It does not reflect any real economic strength.
A third of all the rubles in existence were created in the last six months. Next year is sure to see steep inflation in the ruble price for goods, just based on that explosive expansion of their money supply. But there is no reason to believe that they will halt those printing presses any time soon. In fact, their printing, and the pressures for them to print, have been accelerating.
They are not convertible currencies, duh.