Economics
Five Years After Meltdown, Ruble Is Reborn as Trade-War Refuge
- Nabiullina’s ruble free-float pivot was tested in Dec. 2014
- Now, high-yielding Russia market enters 2020 a haven among EMs
Pedestrians walk beside the River Neva past the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Five years ago, central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina’s decision to let the ruble trade freely faced a gut-wrenching test. An oil-price collapse and international sanctions had put the currency into a nosedive that even a 650 basis-point rate hike couldn’t immediately halt.
Fast-forward half a decade and the picture in Russian markets couldn’t look more different.