This March, the Russian ruble became the worst-performing currency in the world, having plunged by 28.59% in a single session against the US dollar. The ruble hit a four-year low against its American counterpart as oil prices crashed overnight following the breakdown of the Russia-Saudi Arabia pact to limit production. The currencies of most commodity-dependent economies are vulnerable to any instability in the energy market. The ruble is no exception as Russia still relies on energy exports for a large portion of its budget. However, Russia’s revenue from oil exports is denominated in US dollars, thus offsetting somehow the consequences of the weakening ruble. Besides, the Central Bank of Russia quickly responded to the ruble’s collapse by suspending its daily purchases of foreign currency for state reserves for 30 days. Still, analysts believe that the ruble has little or no chance of rebounding in the current conditions. Over the past few years, it has been one of the weakest currencies along with the Argentine peso and the Turkish Lira. This time, the ruble suffered the biggest losses among emerging markets currencies, leaving the Mexican peso far behind. Experts predict a drop to 100 rubles per US dollar unless some significant changes occur.
