Rubeln ner 40%

With the sharp drop in the price of oil, Russia’s largest export, central bank officials have been preparing the population for more declines in the ruble. Kseniya Yudaeva, first deputy chairwoman of the central bank, told a group of regional officials that a further drop in oil prices is “highly probable,” according to the Interfax news agency. She added that the central bank was now planning for prices to fall as low as $60 a barrel and remain there for a prolonged period—a scenario that only recently had been considered extreme. Ms. Yudaeva said the central bank would intervene to support the ruble only “to prevent panic among the population.”