MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble is likely to strengthen in the medium term due to higher commodity prices, Anatoly Aksakov, a Russian bank lobbyist known for sending the euro down earlier this year, said on Tuesday.
The comments mark a sharp turnaround for Aksakov, a parliament member who earlier this month proposed a 30-40 percent devaluation of the rouble, incurring the wrath of top officials of the ruling United Russia party.
"The global environment favours Russia's economy, oil prices remain high, so now all the conditions are present for the rouble to strengthen," Aksakov told a press conference.
He said the main issue for the central bank now would be how to withstand future rouble appreciation.
Aksakov's calls for rouble devaluation earlier this month weighed on the Russian currency.
In February, Aksakov's proposal for Russian debt restructuring prompted a sell-off in the euro, which fell over 1 percent versus the dollar. He later backtracked on those comments..
The politician, who heads the Association of Regional Banks, one of the two major banking lobby groups in Russia, is now facing expulsion from the National Banking Council, which supervises the central bank.
"I have been appealing for a weak rouble during at least the last five years. I do not know why the reaction was so sharp now," Aksakov said.
The rouble, which lost a third of its value during a period of gradual devaluation that ended in January, has appreciated in the past week. On Tuesday, it traded at 37.43 versus a euro-dollar basket, slightly up on the day.
Russia's central bank sees no grounds for a rouble devaluation, its first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday.
Aksakov had previously said a weak rouble could help Russia get over the recession, pointing to the economic boom that followed Russia's default and a sharp rouble devaluation in 1998. (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeev, Editing by Lin Noueihed)