Another move of desperation in Russia to halt the collapse of the ruble. After the second (and consistent) discount rate hike decided yesterday night by the Central Bank, today the Government announced the sale of part of the foreign currency reserves, which overall are worth seven billion euros.
"The Finance Ministry considers the ruble extremely undervalued and is starting to sell its currency reserves on the market," spokeswoman Svetlana Nikitina told AFP, but did not specify either the quantities used or the currencies involved in the operation. .
However, the news gave new breath to the price of the ruble, which rose to 81,61 against the euro (from 85,15 yesterday evening) and to 65,15 against the dollar (from 67,88). Yesterday the peaks of 100 rubles for one euro and 80 for a dollar were reached.
Meanwhile, the devaluation of the currency is making itself felt on the real economy, penalizing the resellers of imported goods. The Russian newspaper Vedomosti writes that the large foreign car distributors have suspended supplies to dealers, who in turn have stopped sales for a few days. Bentley, Volkswagen e Jaguar Land Rover they would have frozen deliveries until a price review, even if for the moment the news has no official confirmation.
Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, however, explicitly announced the suspension of online sales of iPhones, iPads and computers in Russia. The Californian giant explained that the suspension is temporary and depends solely on the currency crisis, which caused the ruble to drop by 20% in two days. “Due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the ruble, our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we adjust prices. We apologize to customers for the inconvenience,” a spokeswoman said.
