Bloomberg Moscow
THE ROUBLE soared the most since 1998 and Russian stocks surged as the government sold dollars and the central bank said it would help companies meet foreign-currency debt obligations.
The currency gained 11.2 percent to 60.6995 a dollar by 6.24pm in Moscow, ending a seven-day, 22 percent drop. The Bank of Russia said lenders would not have to write down the value of assets affected by the weaker rouble and falling bonds, allowing banks to use the third-quarter exchange rate in valuing risk-weighted assets. Shares of Sberbank, the nation’s largest lender, jumped 38 percent in London, the most since at least 2011.
The central bank measures, which also include the provision of foreign-exchange loans and additional repurchase auctions, come after the Finance Ministry bought roubles yesterday to arrest the worst depreciation since 1998. Russian markets went into free fall on Tuesday as a surprise interest-rate increase failed to shore up investor confidence. Yesterday’s advance trims the rouble’s slide this year to 47 percent.
“Authorities made a combined effort, giving strong signals to the market that they are doing anything it takes to stem the rouble rout and turn things around,” Bernd Berg, a London-based emerging-market strategist at Société Générale, said. “As a result the rouble is gaining strongly.”