Millions of Russian consumers who made panic purchases at the end of last year as the ruble plunged now regret their haste as the currency's 2015 rally leads to lower prices.
Companies such as Apple are reversing last year's price increases as the ruble strengthens, so consumers would have been better off waiting rather than snapping up imported goods and services in a bet on higher prices down the road.
Andrey Skripnik, for one, played ruble roulette and lost. He hedged against further declines by snatching up flights in December for the vacation he planned in April. Three months later, the 15,000-ruble (about $290) tickets were being offered for as little as 8,600 rubles (about $168) after the currency rebounded.
"I realized that I blew it," Skripnik, a 31-year-old Muscovite, said upon his return from the trip to Tel Aviv.
The spending spree has drained some consumers' wallets, adding to this year's gloom in the Russian retail industry. Retail sales slumped for a third month in March, falling 8.7 percent as real wages fell the most since 1999 amid an economic slowdown and consumer-price inflation that decelerated for the first time in eight months in April.
The ruble gave up as much as 20 percent of its value in a matter of hours in mid-December, prompting shoppers to move up purchases on concern that further declines would mean only higher prices of imported goods and services.
Instead, the currency rebounded.
A dollar now fetches about 50 rubles, after rising to a closing peak of 68 rubles from 40 rubles during the fourth quarter.
Natalia Barbashova, a Moscow economist, drained her savings in December to pay 145,000 rubles (about $2,836) for a fur coat made from imported mink. A few months later, the same item cost just 115,000 rubles (roughly $2,249) after the ruble's rally. With that experience behind her, she plans to spend less on branded clothes.
"Lower prices won't necessarily result in sales growth. They may only curb the decline," said Ivan Fedyakov, general director of St. Petersburg-based researcher INFOLine. "Russian consumers don't have a cash cushion anymore, they spent it at the end of last year. People were buying two or three TV sets at once in December, and some of them were later trying to sell them at a discount on a classifieds website."
original source: http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2015/may/10/ruble-s-rise-has-russians-ruing-late-14/