On Monday, the ruble crashed to less than a penny, prompting Russia to consider more extreme measures to support it. Bloomberg reported that Kremlin officials discussed requiring companies to sell export revenue.
During a meeting between the government and Russian exporters, which are among the country’s few remaining foreign exchange sources, the proposal was discussed.
During an emergency meeting Tuesday, Russia’s central bank raised its benchmark rate to 12% from 8.5% to stem the ruble’s slide.
There was no definitive decision on export revenue, and a second meeting is possible later this week, sources told Bloomberg.
By requiring exporters to sell their foreign exchange revenue, Russia would revert to the harsh capital controls it imposed after its invasion of Ukraine last year.
In order to stabilize the ruble, the Kremlin imposed a host of capital controls, such as limits on bank forex transfers and steep rate hikes after the West frozen Moscow’s currency reserves.
Eventually, Russia eased some controls as the ruble rebounded, but the currency has been sliding since the fall due to additional Western sanctions that hit export revenue while the war in Ukraine boosted government spending.
After the central bank raised rates on Tuesday, the ruble recovered some ground to trade at 97 per dollar after falling as low as 102 per dollar on Monday.
The Russian ruble has lost about 25% against the dollar this year, making it one of the world’s worst-performing currencies alongside the Turkish lira and the Argentine peso.
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