Benchmark

$40 Oil May Force Russia Into an Emergency Rate Hike, Economists Say

And cause the economy to shrink by 5 percent this year

The skyscrapers of the Moscow International Business Center on Oct. 28, 2014.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

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By Andre Tartar

July 30, 2015 at 5:34 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

If oil hits $40, Russia is in trouble.

Already faced with recession and sanctions, a further drop in crude might force the country's central bank into an emergency rate hike — after four cuts already this year — according to 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg from July 24-29. Thirty-nine percent of analysts said the government might impose Greek-like capital controls and 22 percent predicted a takeover of at least some of the country's banks.