Russian Credit Crunch Taking Hold as Interbank Rates Soar
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Trust between Russian lenders is breaking down after the biggest ruble rout since the country’s 1998 default, sending interbank rates to the highest in eight years.
The Mosprime overnight rate jumped to 27.3 percent yesterday, the highest since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 2006. It declined to 25 percent today compared with from 11.85 percent a week ago. The cost of short-term cash usually closely follows the central bank’s benchmark rate, which policy makers increased 6.5 percentage points to 17 percent on Dec. 16 to shore up the ruble amid an exodus of capital from Russia.