The collapse of the Russian ruble against the US dollar continued for a second day on Thursday. The currency fell below 85 rubles, setting a new all-time low against the greenback, RT reported. Wednesday’s plunge was below the Black Tuesday, December 16, 2014 rate, when it fell to 80 rubles against the dollar and 100 against the euro. The euro also gained on the Russian currency, trading at over 93 rubles, still below Black Tuesday’s mark. Falling oil prices are continuing to put pressure on the Russian currency. In intra-day trading at ICE, Brent crude fell well below $28 per barrel, trading at $27.62. US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $28.07 a barrel. According to former finance minister Aleksey Kudrin, such an exchange rate against major currencies is only temporary and the ruble will rebound, as after December 2014, its previous record low. However, he added, oil prices haven’t hit rock bottom and could plummet to $16-$18 for a while and prices will go up after that.
