Russia's Central Bank on Monday allowed its plummeting currency to drop further on the last day of trading before the long New Year's holiday, ending a rollercoaster year for the ruble on a historic low.The ruble slid 1.5 percent on the MICEXforeign currency exchange, to close at 34.9 rubles against the Central Bank's euro-dollar basket.
It hit 29.2 against the dollar -- a level that hasn't been seen since 2005 -- and 41.7 against the euro -- an all-time low. It is the third sharp drop in the national currency in just five days, and the 12th since Nov. 11, when the supervised slide began.
The Central Bank on Tuesday is to set the official foreign currency exchange rates to serve as the holiday benchmark before a 12-day trading break that is set to run through New Year's and Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 and end on Jan 11.
Russia's Central Bank normally does not allow the currency to lose more than 1 percent of its value in one day. The ruble has shed more than 20 percent of its value against the dollar since its high of 23.4 against the dollar in early August.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the first time Monday offered an explanation of government policy of incremental devaluation.
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