Ruble Tumbles to Record as Oil Slump Hinders Russia's Recovery

  • Currency touches all-time low past 81/USD as crude slides
  • Russia earning least from each barrel of oil in about 6 years

Ruble Low Good for Commodity Companies: Deripaska

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The ruble slumped to an all-time low as oil’s retreat choked revenue of the world’s largest energy exporter and restricted Russia’s ability to lift its economy out of a recession.

The currency weakened as much as 4.1 percent to 81.941 against the dollar, surpassing the previous record it touched at the peak of Russia’s financial-market turmoil in December 2014. Unlike then, when the central bank stepped in to shore up the ruble amid a crisis in confidence in the country due to sanctions over Ukraine, now Governor Elvira Nabiullina says the ruble is trading at a fair value and doesn’t need support.