Russian ruble hits historic low against U.S. dollar

The currency is trading at historic lows to the U.S. dollar, as the drop is largely down to the fall in the price of Brent crude oil, according to experts, with Russia's main export, Brent crude down around 25% in 2016, Ukraine Today reports.

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"Indeed if oil continues falling further we may see the ruble testing the 80 rubles per dollar mark. Maybe even weaker levels," said Dmitry Polevoy, the chief economist on Russia & CIS at ING Bank, according to Ukraine Today.

"And in terms of the annual averages, we still expect a little bit stronger exchange rate of the ruble than we currently have," he added.

Apart from the oil price drop, Russia's economy is also grappling with Western sanctions, according to the report.

Read alsoBloomberg puts Russia among worst economies in 2016The measures affect the banking, energy and defense sectors. They were imposed by the U.S. and the EU in response to the Kremlin's military aggression in Ukraine. Russians say they are feeling the pinch.

Pressure on the economy has already pushed Moscow to introduce a number of budget cuts with more likely on the way, as reported. 

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