Russian Ruble trouble

As the Russian Ruble plummets, what is the most frustrating here is that the world does not care if Russia's economy would go down, all because of sanctions and Obama's grand imperialist ambitions. Why do you attack a country that does not threatened or attack any NATO member state? Ukraine is not a NATO member but still, Obama wanted the blood of the Slavs, Orthodox Christians and everything conservative.


In attempts to break the trend the CBR has hiked the key interest rate several times over the past few months. Back in March it was 5.5 percent, but was increased to 17 percent on Monday night – a change of 6.5 percentage points from the previous level set just one week previous.
Still the bank refuses to impose stricter regulation of currency markets like going back to massive market interventions or forcing exporting companies to sell a share of their profits in the market. Taking these actions “was not discussed in any way,” according to Economy Minister Aleksey Ulyukaev, who took part in an emergency meeting with government members and central bank officials on Tuesday evening.
The US tech giant Apple Inc. was quick to react, saying Tuesday it is suspending online sales in Russia due to the rapid descent of the ruble.
"Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing," Apple public relations representative Alan Hely told Bloomberg.
This is the second currency-related move by Apple since the ruble started its free fall. In November the company raised the price of the iPhone 6 by 25 percent in Russia.
Another warning came from the MSCI investment company that said Russia may be excluded from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index amid the recent economic distress.
It said Russia may be taken off the index if the Russian government chooses to start controlling capital flows or currency transactions, as "freedom of capital inflows and outflows is one of the main classification criteria for an emerging market."
So far Russia has said it will not introduce any form of capital controls.
The Russian government believes the ruble is currently undervalued and will rebound soon, as the rush to sell the currency eases and companies start buying it to pay taxes later this month.
The weakening of the ruble comes as a result of several factors, including the dropping price of oil, Western sanctions against Russia that made it much harder for Russian financial system to obtain foreign credit, and a panic that hit traders amid the market volatility.