It seems that these days sharp downswings in the Russian ruble hardly surprise anyone. Still, the ruble hit a fresh record low. The Russian national currency broke through the weakest level of 1998, the year that was rather challenging for the country. During a trading session, the exchange rate dropped by 3.49 rubles against the US dollar and breached the level of 82 rubles a dollar. The single European currency also went up against the ruble by 3.74 to 89.6 rubles a euro.
The point is that the ruble is highly dependent on crude oil, so the ongoing tumble in black gold prices is dragging the Russian currency down. Prices for Brent crude, which is the main component of Russian exports, sank below 28 dollars a barrel for the first time in 12 years. In the light of Iran’s return to the global market, one can suppose that 28 dollars a barrel is not the limit and that crude prices could slide further to 20 dollars a barrel. Therefore, the US dollar could become even stronger in the future.
According to the latest surveys, the Russians lack savings to purchase foreign currencies. Some nationals even have to save on food, so currency exchange does not interest them much.
