Rouble slide resumes as govt purchases fail to stem rout

Moscow

EMERGENCY measures failed for a second time this week to reverse a rout in the rouble, narrowing Russian President Vladimir Putin's options in confronting the country's deepest financial crisis since 1998.

The rouble erased a rally of as much as 8.4 per cent within an hour of the Finance Ministry announcement that it bought the currency, which has lost 52 per cent this year. On Tuesday, the currency plunged following the central bank's increase in interest rates to 17 per cent from 10.5 per cent.