The Russian ruble has hit five-year lows against the Central Bank’s foreign currency basket of dollars and euros – a politically worrying trend for the Kremlin because of the accompanying rise in the cost of living.
As for March 13, it stands at 36.45 against the dollar and 50.80 against the euro, rates are even higher than in months of Russia’s 2008-2009 financial crisis; in February 2009 it was 35,81 against the dollar.
The growth since the beginning of January has been already more than 20%.
Picture shows the fluctuations of the Russian ruble since 1998 to March 2014.
Sources: www.bloomberg.com, www.dawn.com, www.cbr.ru