REUTERS
Russia's currency has dropped considerably along with the price of crude oil. It's a reminder of the Russian economy's extraordinary level of dependency on fossil fuel exports, pundits say, according to Deutsche Welle.
Foreign exchange traders in Moscow on Monday saw the ruble sink 2.3% to a new low for the year, Deutsche Welle wrote. At one point during the day's trading it took 71.2 rubles to buy a dollar.
Trading on the Moscow exchange also saw an increase in the forex rate of the ruble against the euro by 4.37 rubles to 83.01 rubles, having exceeded the point of 83 rubles for the first time since December 17, 2014.
The Russian currency is getting weaker against the backdrop of falling crude oil prices. On Monday afternoon, October futures of Brent crude dropped as low as $43.73 per barrel, according to The BBC.
The Central Bank of Russia set the official forex rate of the ruble against the U.S. dollar for August 25 at 70.75 rubles, while the forex rate against the euro was raised by 4.48 rubles, to 81.15 rubles.
Russia's currency has lost more than 20% against the dollar in the past two months – and has declined in value against the euro by nearly half since May, Deutsche Welle wrote.
Speaking to the press at the weekend, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged the cause of the ruble's slide: The currency's close linkage to the global oil price.
"The most important thing in this sort of situation is not to get nervous, and to avoid making hasty decisions," he said.