Russia considers currency controls as rouble slides
Russia’s currency is falling: on Monday, it tumbled past the important threshold of 100 to the dollar. An emergency interest rate rise by the central bank on Tuesday, to 12 per cent, failed to halt the slide, leaving Vladimir Putin now considering stringent capital controls. The FT reports that proposals from Russia’s finance ministry include the compulsory exchange of exporters’ foreign currency earnings into roubles, as well as a ban on paying out overseas dividends and limiting the amount of foreign currency that exporters can take out of Russia. It would be the first time Russia has imposed currency controls since the early weeks of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Since February 2022, the rouble has lost 20 per cent of its value due to sanctions and increased military spending.
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