The ruble is collapsing to an all-time low after new sanctions on Russia, including the selective exclusion of banks from the rapid payment circuit, due to the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian currency loses almost 30% against the dollar: in the Asian markets the currency (Here is the trend) was down 28% to 117.8170 on the dollar in offshore trade. With sanctions against Russia fly oil. Then the Russian Central Bank raised key interest rates by 10.5 points to 20 percent.
Today, February 28, the Moscow Stock Exchange began trading in the money market three hours late. It was decided, according to reports from Bloomberg, the Russian Central Bank that is considering whether to open other markets later. If the decision to open is made, it will be 3 pm Moscow time. Spreads on the ruble have increased eightfold, with market makers retreating from Sydney to Hong Kong. The European Central Bank also assessed that Sberbank Europe AG and its two branches in the banking union, Sberbank dd in Croatia and Sberbank banka dd in Slovenia, They fail or are in danger of failing due to their deteriorating liquidity situation.
Long queues at ATMs
It is no coincidence that in Russia there were long queues at ATMs for a few days, looking for rubles but above all for dollars, which are increasingly difficult to find. In the last few hours the lines have grown again after the new and heavy, fines It was agreed by the G7 countries and the European Union as a whole, which excludes some Russian banks from the system of international rapid payments and freezes the assets of the Central Bank of Moscow held abroad.
“I was queuing for an hour, but the foreign currency was gone everywhere, only rubles,” Vladimir, a 28-year-old programmer, told Bloomberg as he waited in a long line at an ATM in a shopping center. “I was late to work because I didn’t think all this could happen. I am in shock.”
The rush to the dollar has not even slowed down due to the “punitive” exchange rate offered by some banks, which in some cases exchange currencies for more than 100 rubles per dollar, against the official exchange rate of 83.7.