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Russian ruble drops to record low amid plummeting oil prices

Xinhua, January 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Russian ruble dropped Wednesday to 80.68 against the U.S. dollar on the Moscow Exchange, a record low since its re-denomination in 1998.

Its previous all-time low of 80.10 was seen on Dec. 16, 2014. < The drop was mainly due to plummeting prices of oil, Russia's main export commodity.

Oil prices are hovering near 12-year lows as the market expects a surge of exports from Iran after the lifting of economic sanctions. ICE benchmark Brent oil March futures were traded below 28 dollars per barrel on Wednesday.

Russia's 2016 budget was compiled on the basis of an average oil price of 50 dollars per barrel. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has suggested that the budget should be slashed and a bunch of projects scrapped due to a foreseeable revenue decline. Endi