A turbulent week is over for the ruble, but the widening policy divide it revealed within Russian officialdom is here to stay.
As the currency neared the level of 100 per dollar, authorities sprung into action. But behind the scenes, the rescue operation showed a government that’s rarely been so split on matters of critical economic priorities — a vulnerability at a time the country is trying to sustain the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The sparring over the ruble’s plunge focused on what caused it just as much as on what to do about it. After long warning of deteriorating trade figures and heavy government spending, the central bank led by Gov. Elvira Nabiullina announced it would refrain from foreign-exchange purchases and then called a Tuesday emergency meeting that resulted in the steepest interest-rate hike since the immediate aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.