In the immediate aftermath of Russian invasion of Ukraine, the collapse currency Ruble became symbol of Russia’s newfound financial isolation.
Triggering memories of the battering it took during the 1998 Russian financial crisis, it sunk as low as 121.5 rubles per dollar, as international community rushed to sanction the Putin-led regime for the ‘war on Ukraine’.
Things looked so dismal that the US President Joe Biden said the ruble had been reduced to “rubble.”
However, the remark by Biden wasn’t true in its entirety, and it was proved in the following days. On Wednesday, closing at 79.7 in Moscow, the ruble has surged all the way back to where it was before Putin invaded Ukraine.
This development has proved that sanctions imposed by international community against Russia and its oligarchs, with businesses shutting down their operations in the country has proved out to be toothless moves. The reason for the same is foreigners guzzling Russian oil and natural gas — supporting the ruble by stocking Putin’s coffers.
Bloomberg Economics, despite Russia being mostly cut off otherwise from the global economy, expects the country will earn nearly $321 billion from energy exports this year, up more than a third from 2021.
Even as Putin’s military gets bogged down in Ukraine and outrage mounts across the globe over atrocities it’s committed, the rapid ruble recovery gives Putin a major victory back in Russia, where many people fixate on the currency’s ups and downs.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
