The official exchange rate of the Russian rouble weakened past 100 to the US dollar for the first time since October 2023 after President Vladimir Putin lowered the nuclear strike threshold in escalating tensions with the United States over Ukraine.
The central bank set the rouble exchange rate at 100.03 to the dollar, down from 99.94 on Monday. The rouble has been weakening since the start of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region on Aug. 6 and has lost nearly 19% in value since then, according to LSEG data.
Western sanctions imposed on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and its clearing agent, the National Clearing Centre, on June 12 stopped all trade in dollars and euros at MOEX.
The central bank sets its official dollar rate using over-the-counter (OTC) trade data from banks. This procedure makes the exchange rate opaque and volatile.
One-day rouble-dollar futures, which trade on the Moscow exchange and are a guide for OTC market rates, were up 0.6% at 100.4.
The updated Russian nuclear doctrine, establishing a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, was approved by him on Tuesday.
