The Russian ruble plunged nearly 7% to trade at more than 110 per USD, the lowest on record excluding the short-lived selling immediately after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, as more sanctions against Russia dampened the outlook for inflows of foreign capital. The US sanctioned Gazprombank, the last major financial institution without penalties, to halt the transfer of payments from foreign markets to pay for Russian gas.

The ruble remained under pressure from Moscow relaxing capital controls as a weaker currency aids the Kremlin’s ability to finance its budget. Mandatory forex conversion for export revenues fell 25% from earlier in the year, significantly reducing demand for rubles.

Russian central bank intervenes to stop currency free fall

Russia’s central bank said on Wednesday [27 November] it would stop foreign currency purchases in order to ease pressure on the financial markets after the rouble weakened beyond 110 to the U.S. dollar, 119 to the euro, down by one-third since early August.

The central bank said it had decided not to buy foreign currency on the domestic market from Nov. 28 until the end of the year, but to defer these purchases until 2025.

“The decision was made to reduce the volatility of financial markets,” the regulator said in a statement. Since Russia was blocked from using the dollar and euro, it has made foreign exchange interventions using Chinese yuan.

Russia published new economic data on Wednesday highlighting the latest signs of overheating in an economy retooled for the purpose of fighting the war in Ukraine, which has sucked workers out of the labour force.

[Edit typo.]