The Russian ruble just tumbled to a record low
On Thursday, the Russian currency dropped another 1.1% to 71.183 per US dollar, according to data from Bloomberg.
The ruble has been the worst performing EM currency over the past month, falling by about 6% against the dollar, as the analysts at Capital Economics recently pointed out in a note.
Notably, this tumble comes on the heels of the latest oil price plunge. Today, Brent crude fell another 1.3%, down to $36.89 per barrel, while WTI crude fell 1.9% down to $34.82.
And things don't look that much better going forward.
"Looking ahead, the combination of persistent capital outflows, a fragile economic recovery and political concerns, mean that the ruble is likely to remain under pressure," wrote Capital Economics' Liza Ermolenko in the note.
Last week, the Russian central bank left rates unchanged at 11% for the third meeting in a row, but added that it'll again start easing if inflation risks subside and price growth slows.
"External conditions remain tough," central bank head Elvira Nabiullina said at a news conference according to Bloomberg. "We are considering a risk scenario with an oil price lower than $40. The latest oil-price trend tells us that the relevance of this scenario has increased."