USDRUB, the new collapse of the Russian ruble by 30%
After the West imposed sanctions on Russia, the Russian ruble fell to a record low against the dollar. The dramatic fall in the currency was also influenced by Russia’s move to put the Russian deterrent forces, including nuclear weapons, in a state of special combat readiness.
Reuters reports that the ruble fell as much as 119.50 per dollar on Asian stock exchanges, a record 30 percent drop from Friday’s close. It later recovered to around 110 for a dollar but is down again this morning. The ruble fell today during the main trading session on the Moscow Stock Exchange by more than 15 percent against the dollar and the euro.
This morning, the cryptocurrency market is in the red, a barrel rose by 4.5 percent to just over $ 102. Bitcoin recorded a minus of 1.2 percent and Ethereum of 3.5 percent.
This morning, the Russian Central Bank also responded to the ruble’s collapse by raising the reference interest rate from 9.5 percent to 20 percent annually to counteract the risks of a new deeper fall of the ruble and a new rise in inflation and rising prices.
This is the highest level of reference interest rates Russia has ever had. The Russian agency adds that the previous record level of 17 percent was recorded in December 2014.
In addition, on the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and the Russian Central Bank, a decision was made today ordering all residents in Russia who are engaged in foreign trade to sell 80 percent of their foreign exchange profits.
The world’s largest state-owned, Norwegian fund NBIM, has announced that it will give up its investments in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
“We have decided to stop the fund’s investments and have started the process of selling assets in Russia,” Prime Minister Jonas Gar Store told a news conference on Sunday.
Norges Bank Investment Management is the largest state fund in the world. At the end of 2021, it held a portfolio of over 9,000 shares worth $ 1.3 trillion, including 47 Russian companies and government bonds worth NOK 25 billion ($ 2.78 billion), Reuters reported, citing the Norwegian government.
“Russia’s attack on Ukraine has called into question European security in a way we have not seen since World War II,” Store said.
Increased EU pressure on Russia and Belarus
European Commission President Ursula von der Layen said yes, The EU is closing its airspace to Russian planes, banning Russian state media on its territory, and imposing new sanctions on Belarus. According to her, the EU intends to start supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday, the European Commission president said EU airspace would be closed to Russian-owned, Russian-controlled aircraft, or Russian-registered.
“They will not be able to take off, or land, or fly over the territory of the EU.” “Including the private planes of the oligarchs,” Von der Layen said. She also said that the “media machinery of the Kremlin” would be banned in the EU.
“State media Rasha Tudej and Sputnik and their affiliates will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war,” said von der Layen, noting that the EC is developing tools to ban their “toxic and harmful misinformation” in Europe.
The President of the European Commission also announced that a new package of actions is being prepared for the “second aggressor in this war” – the regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. As she explained, the new sanctions will affect the most important Belarusian sectors.
According to her announcement, the EU will start supplying weapons to Ukraine, which is the first time in history that the Union has decided on such a move.
