Putin Negates Bank Rossii as Ruble Ignores Rates: Russia Credit

Nine months after Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Elvira Nabiullina to the top spot at the central bank, he’s making her job almost impossible.

Putin’s incursion into Ukraine and push to annex its Crimea region, whose residents backed joining Russia in a disputed referendum yesterday, have turned the ruble into the world’s second-worst-performing major currency. VTB Capital said the rout can’t be stemmed by more interest-rate increases.