Russian ruble sinks to 85 vs dollar, 93 vs euro, new all-time lows

MOSCOW, Jan 21 (PRIME) -- The exchange rate of the Russian ruble declined further to new all-time lows on Thursday, depreciating by 4.39 rubles to 85.79 against the U.S. dollar and by 4.8 rubles to 93.45 against the euro at 12:08 p.m. Moscow time, as seen by PRIME in data of the Moscow Exchange.

Earlier, the national currency tested 85.999 against the dollar and 93.7 against the euro.

“The exchange rate changes indeed, the exchange rate is volatile. But it is not exactly a collapse, and in this case there are no grounds to believe that the central bank has no scenarios aimed at eliminating some really slumping changes,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said.

Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said he believes the ruble rate dynamics are driven only by the current oil price weakening.

“I am sure that the central bank does not pursue an intentional policy of ruble devaluation,” Kudrin said in an interview with Business FM radio station. “The central bank must maintain a floating exchange rate regime that means that the rate will follow objective market conditions. In this case it is an oil price fall.”

End