The ruble ended the week down more than 20% against the dollar and euro in Moscow trading on Friday, with the Russian economy under pressure from sanctions aimed at isolating Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The ruble ended the week at 115 to the dollar in Moscow, down from 83 to the dollar last Friday, although it appreciated 1% this Friday from Thursday. Against the euro, it closed just below 119 per euro, down from 93 per euro at the end of last week. The currency hit a record low against the US currency on Thursday and the euro on Friday.
“Russian assets are being destroyed in value,” said Cristian Maggio, head of portfolio strategy at TD Securities.
Russia’s five-year CDS — a measure of the cost of protecting against a debt default — stood at 1,565 basis points, up from 1,412 basis points on Thursday but still some distance from the record 1,973 points. Monday’s base, data from IHS Markit showed.
Trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange remained virtually closed on Friday, the fifth day of restrictions imposed by the Russian central bank.
In spot trading outside Russia, the ruble tumbled 10.4% to 121.033 to the dollar in mid-afternoon New York after hitting a record low of 122.033 to the dollar. Offers to buy and sell were between 120 and 128 per dollar, which traders characterized as a sign of evaporation of liquidity.
On the week, the ruble was down 30.7%, deepening its 2022 low to 36.2%.
G7 threatens Russia with new sanctions
The group of seven most industrialized countries in the world (G7) threatened this Friday (4) to impose new “severe sanctions” against Russia for its military intervention in Ukraine and proposed to combat Russian campaigns of “disinformation” about the war.
The G7 countries “will continue to impose severe sanctions in response to Russian aggression,” the foreign ministers of the group made up of the United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Japan said in a statement.
The G7 also indicated that it would act to stop the “Russian campaign of disinformation”, which “puts more lives at risk”.
The statement urged Russia to end its attacks “in the vicinity of Ukrainian nuclear power plants”, after Russian bombings that on Friday caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest in Europe, with no consequences on levels of radioactivity.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
