Rouble falls sharply as Moscow says ready to help Belarus if asked

[MOSCOW] The Russian rouble fell to multi-month lows on Friday after Moscow said it was ready to help neighbouring Belarus resolve its internal political crisis if it is asked for help.

The rouble has come under pressure this month as Belarus has been rocked by demonstrations against its leadership, raising fears that Moscow may somehow become involved.

The Kremlin said earlier this week that it saw no need to help Belarus militarily or otherwise for now due to the unrest there following an Aug 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged.

The rouble slipped early on Friday and extended its losses after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia would do all it could to help resolve the situation in Belarus should Minsk ask for assistance.

By 2pm GMT the rouble was 1.5 per cent weaker against the US dollar at 74.91, having earlier touched 75 versus the greenback for the first time since early May.

The rouble eased more than 0.6 per cent to 88.12 against the euro, a level not seen since late March.

The Belarusian rouble crashed along with its Russian peer, shedding 2 per cent on the day and hitting 2.5380 against the the US dollar, its weakest since early April.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 1.9 per cent at US$44.05 barrel, putting pressure on Russian stocks.

Shares in Russia's largest lender Sberbank jumped after it said it would pay out 50 per cent of its 2019 profit in dividends. By 1.48pm GMT, however, Sberbank was down 1 per cent at 230.18 roubles (S$4.27) per share.

Earlier on Friday, the management of VTB, Russia's second largest bank, recommended paying shareholders 2019 dividends worth 10 per cent of its net profit instead of the 50 per cent it had initially planned. VTB shares were down 1.6 per cent on the day.

Russian stock indexes were mixed. The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1.1 per cent to 1,258.7 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was nearly flat at 2,994.6 points.

REUTERS