Economic security

How the Unshackled Ruble Has Changed Russia's Economy Forever

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the freeing of the ruble for the first time in its post-Soviet history.In five charts, we show how the central bank's decision to stop depleting international reserves to prop up the currency has upended every facet of the Russian economy, from decimating wages to enriching oil exporters. 

...The ruble has shed about 30 percent against the U.S. dollar, stoking inflation to a 13-year high that the central bank sought to counter with repeated interest-rate hikes up to 17 percent last December. The Bank of Russia has since unwound much of that emergency rate increase.