NEWSWATCH Wall Street Journal: Russians Seek to Soften Impact of Ruble Depreciation. Businesses look for new ways to hedge against further currency volatility.
The Wall Street Journal covers Russian vulnerability to currency volatility.
Under Russian President Vladimir Putin, currency volatility once seemed consigned to the past. Before Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, the ruble had kept an average range of between 25 and 35 to the dollar for several years. Now the exchange rate hovers around 66 to the dollar.
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Recently, the Kremlin has been trying to calm the market, which suggests the ruble’s current depreciation is of strong political importance for Moscow. Mr. Putin had already stepped in personally to calm fears earlier this month, saying the Russian central bank had the situation in hand.