25% fall in Russian currency

London The Russian ruble has reached its lowest value since the early weeks of the war in Ukraine as Western sanctions waeigh on energy exports and weaken demand for the national currency.

On Monday, the Russian currency passed 101 rubles to the dollar, continuing a more than 25 per cent decline in its value since the beginning of the year and hitting the lowest level in almost 17 months. President Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser, Maksim Oreshkin, on Monday blamed the weak ruble on loose monetary policy in an op-ed for state news agency Tass.

He said a strong ruble is in the interest of the Russian economy and that a weak currency complicates economic restructuring and negatively affects people’s real incomes.