© Alexander Demianchuk/ReutersA board displaying currency exchange rates in St Petersburg, Russia.
The rouble has fallen steadily in recent months amid rising tensions with the west, but it took a dramatic downward lurch earlier this week, plunging more than 10% in 48 hours.
The instability of currency is reviving uncomfortable memories among Russian people, many of whom suffered after the country's default in 1998 when savings were wiped out and queues formed at exchange points as the rouble was dramatically devalued amid spiralling inflation.
Comment: Whether or not the falling rouble will result in as big a crisis as the Guardian predicts remains to be seen. The Russian government says it has the means to stabilize the currency if need be, so we'll just have to wait and see. And as for the Russian people, they're well aware of what's going on, and who's behind it. The U.S. is engaging in economic warfare to destabilize Russia. And the Russians don't take kindly to that kind of meddling. See: Putin's advisor and experts discuss economy,sanctions & central bank
Economic problems in Russia even threaten to undermine the power base of the president, Vladimir Putin, who has built his political reputation on a promise of stability, the restoration of Russia's great power status and rising living standards. He has made few public comments about the rouble since declines began to accelerate last month.
Comment: Wrong. Putin's popularity is still as high as ever. Russians seem to realize he's doing what he can, against enemies that want to destroy him. Putin has made the necessary comments concerning the covert war the West/NATO is waging against his country. You'd think the Western media were paid to mislead:
Play time is over children: Putin's message to the Western elites is most important since Churchill's Iron Curtain speech
As the rouble dropped on Thursday there was a growing physical shortage of dollars and euros in Moscow's banks and exchange points, according to Russian media.
The rouble's weakness has been exacerbated by the Kremlin's hardline stance over the crisis in Ukraine, which has caused investors to flee Russia, fearing a new cold war.
Comment: Nope, for that we can blame aggressive sanctions and market manipulation. And the Kremlin's hardline stance over the crisis in Ukraine? Since when is the idea that the West shouldn't be butchering innocent people to advance their agenda any longer 'hardline'? The Kremlin has been providing humanitarian supplies to those who are being murdered by Western "humanitarian" interventions. So, hardline? More like humanitarian.
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Western sanctions on Moscow for its annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and support for pro-Russia rebels fighting the Kiev government have shut out Russian companies from western capital markets, forcing large debt repayments and prompting fears of a slow-motion credit crunch.
Comment: Western sanctions are weapons of war aimed at the emergence of a multipolar order that threatens the tyranny of the United States and Israel. But while the West isolates itself from the rising BRICS community, they are just digging their graves:
BRICS creation signals shift towards new global architecture
Once grouped with other dynamic emerging market economies, the Russian economy is now teetering on the brink of recession. Driven by fast-rising food prices, inflation has jumped to above 8% this year while capital flight is at levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.
Dependent on the tax revenue generated by commodity exports,Russia has also been hit by an oil price that has slid over 25% since June and is now hovering at a four-year low.
Comment: More weapons aimed at the peoples of the world:
US-Saudi oil price rigging: Has Washington just shot itself in the oily foot?
The rouble's troubles in recent days were triggered on Wednesday by a decision by Russia's central bank to cease its artificial support for the currency, reversing a policy of 15 years that mandated unlimited interventions on the market to hold the rouble within a certain price range.
In a statement this week, the central bank said that it would now only intervene to prop up the rouble if there were a threat to financial stability. Amid rumours of an emergency meeting of financial policymakers on Friday, experts said the bank had to act to preserve its credibility.
"The longer the regulator waits the harder it will be to find a solution able to stabilise the market, " said Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist for ING Bank in Russia. "Panic amongst the population is difficult to stop."
Comment: There's no doubt about it - a World War is playing out and the West has the hubris to believe that it can win through proxies, whether economic or "terrorist" or "Neo-Nazi". But while waging war by deceit might help bring the house crashing down, integrity is required to rebuild it. As Putin stated: