The Russian ruble weakened beyond 70 versus the dollar for the first time since March 2016 on Monday, remaining under pressure from concerns and uncertainty about U.S. sanctions.
The ruble hit 70.16 versus the greenback at the market opening, taking its year-to-date losses to 19 percent.
The weaker ruble, hit by new sanctions against Moscow and a sell-off in other emerging markets, is seen filtering into consumer prices and once again boosting inflation, which the central bank has just recently managed to rein in.
The central bank is set to meet on interest rates this Friday, and the bank’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina has said the two main options were to hold the key rate at 7.25 percent or even raise it.
But senior Russian officials kept on putting verbal pressure on the central bank, whose officials are currently not available for comment as the bank observes a week of silence.