ROUBLE RECOVERS AS REST OF CIS CURRENCIES SLIDE
16/2/15
Perhaps the Commonwealth of Independent States should be rebranded
Currencies In Stress.
The Russian rouble has staged an impressive comeback in recent days,
helped by recovering oil prices and another tentative cease-fire
between Ukraine and Moscow-supported separatists. But its neighbouring
currencies remain under heavy pressure.
Russia’s rouble has clambered another 2 per cent higher to trade at a
two month high versus the dollar, but the aftershocks of last year’s
crisis continue to reverberate across the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), a club of former Soviet republics.
The Belarussian rouble is steadying after tumbling by almost 29 per
cent against the dollar this year, but Moldova’s leu has slumped 5.3
per cent today, the most in the world. The Ukrainian hryvnia has fallen
another 1.1 per cent and the Georgian lari by 0.6 per cent. All three
are at or near record lows.
Over the past six months only the Azerbaijani manat has managed to
hold steady versus the dollar, while the Kyrkyz som, Armenian dram,
Georgian lari and Turkmen manta have all slid more than 15 per cent.
The Belarussian rouble, Moldovan leu, Russian rouble and Ukrainian
hryvnia have all lost between a third and half of their value over
the past six months.