Russia may spend up to US$30 billion by year-end to prop up ruble

Moscow

THE Russian central bank will probably need to spend as much as US$30 billion by year-end to slow the decline in the ruble, the world's worst-performing currency last quarter, according to UralSib Capital.

Bank of Russia spent as much as US$1.75 billion to prop up the ruble in the two days through Tuesday, its biggest market intervention since President Vladimir Putin's incursion into Ukraine in March. The ruble slumped 7.3 per cent in the past month, the most in the world, as companies competed for dollars to service foreign debt amid US and European Union sanctions.