The Russian rouble has slumped to new record lows against the dollar and euro today, losing over a third of its value so far this year. The rouble traded at 131.25 per dollar and 143.3 per euro on Monday morning.
The slide comes as more international businesses say they are pulling out of Russia over the country’s invasion of
Ukraine.
On Monday, Finnish food group giant Valio said it was quitting the Russian market, while accounting firms PwC and KPMG also announced over the weekend they were halting their operations in
Russia, amid an exodus of western companies from the country.
“We strongly condemn Russia’s invasion of independent Ukraine,” the Valio president and CEO, Annikka Hurme, said.
Earlier, a string of international firms including Toyota, Honda, Nike, Apple, Exxon, Ford, Netflix and Ikea said they were stopping their work in Russia.
Analysts have offered a bleak forecast of the country’s economy in the face of unprecedented western sanctions.
The Institute for International Finance (IIF) last week predicted a 15% contraction in Russia’s GDP in 2022, double the decline the country saw from the global financial crisis.
“We see risks as tilted to the downside. Russia will never be the same again,” wrote IIF’s chief economist, Robin Brooks.