The Russian Ruble Is Getting Crushed

TOMAS HIRST

 OCT. 24, 2014

The Russian ruble has fallen further against the dollar and the euro hitting record new lows against the currencies.

Bloomberg

Ruble vs the dollar

Bloomberg

Ruble vs the euro.

Russia’s currency has been put under pressure by a combination of falling oil prices and fears over a possible sovereign debt downgrade by  Standard & Poor’s Friday.

The ratings agency currently has a BBB- on Russia, only one grade above junk. A further downgrade would push it into junk territory, likely increasing the country’s borrowing costs at a time when it is already struggling to meet budget targets due to plunging commodity revenues. If the oil price continues to slide analysts see the country falling into a recession.

The Russian central bank has spent over $15 billion in October to prop up the currency, burning through Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, but so far has been unable to halt the slide.

The Russian Ruble Is Collapsing

TOMAS HIRST

 OCT. 8, 2014

The Russian ruble has collapsed to a record low against the central bank’s basket of dollars and euros despite intervention by the central bank to prop it up.

See below: 

Twitter/Schuldensuehner

Russian ruble in free fall.

So far, burning through more of the country’s reserves has done little to support the currency as grim economic forecasts, rising inflation and sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine have all taken their toll on sentiment.