Russia's economy headed down the toilet?

[norseamd]

Wait. No. No I don't.

+1

 

[norseamd]

If this persists, ultimately it could lead to Russia becoming more unstable.

Which may actually be more beneficial in the long run over no conflict at all if the other occupied territories of the Russians can finally break free of the imperialism.

 

[StrangerGuy]

BTW, I can't believe Russia is that naive to think $6 billion is enough to make a dent in controlling the slide of a currency.

 

[ponyo]

They're really getting desperate now.

Russia raises key interest rate to 17% amid rouble decline

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if and when the run on Russia banks will occur.

Putin is getting taught expensive lesson he won't forget. Don't fvck with the US.

 

[Ruptga]

In for the popcorn.

Wanna know what this schmuck on the internet thinks? Of course you do. Nobody really knows what's going to happen, they just know what they would be happy to have come to pass. Between sanctions, depressed energy prices (due to OPEC's collective bed shitting), and generally being a shithole, Russia is in a rough place. But, the circumstances that brought them here could reverse - the world is a chaotic place. Shit happens, and there's often nothing the reptile people can do about it.

 

[BudAshes]

In for the popcorn.

Wanna know what this schmuck on the internet thinks? Of course you do. Nobody really knows what's going to happen, they just know what they would be happy to have come to pass. Between sanctions, depressed energy prices (due to OPEC's collective bed shitting), and generally being a shithole, Russia is in a rough place. But, the circumstances that brought them here could reverse - the world is a chaotic place. Shit happens, and there's often nothing the reptile people can do about it.

I for one welcome our new reptile overlords.

 

[ryccoh]

I find the whole thing sad really, Russia has great engineers I wanted to see them build cars, planes, etc with their unique design philosophy and rival american, japanese and maybe german products. Putin had cleverly lifted the country out of despair these whole years and this could've been a new start where Russia plays nice and builds an actual economy that's not just solely dependent on resources and now he tanks the whole country trying to be a bully like in the old days.

 

[dullard]

I find the whole thing sad really, Russia has great engineers I wanted to see them build cars, planes, etc with their unique design philosophy and rival american, japanese and maybe german products. Putin had cleverly lifted the country out of despair these whole years and this could've been a new start where Russia plays nice and builds an actual economy that's not just solely dependent on resources and now he tanks the whole country trying to be a bully like in the old days.

Russia does have some great engineers. But, the only "clever" thing Putin did was to happen to be in power while oil prices soared -- entirely out of his control. Then he went all in domestically and internationally on oil so he has nothing to fall back on if oil ever fell.

By the way, this thread (while less than 1 day old) is now way out of date. The ruble is now at 77 to the dollar, the Russian interest rate is at 17%, and oil is now down to $53.95 per barrel. I'm sure this paragraph will be well out of date by this time tomorrow.

 

[Blackjack200]

Russia does have some great engineers. But, the only "clever" thing Putin did was to happen to be in power while oil prices soared -- entirely out of his control. Then he went all in domestically and internationally on oil so he has nothing to fall back on if oil ever fell.

By the way, this thread (while less than 1 day old) is now way out of date. The ruble is now at 77 to the dollar, the Russian interest rate is at 17%, and oil is now down to $53.95 per barrel. I'm sure this paragraph will be well out of date by this time tomorrow.

Jesus, it was $55 when I checked last night

 

[AdamK47]

The ruble has been on a crazy fluctuation in just the past 8 hours. It had a low of 58 to a high of 78 per USD in a very short time.

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDRUB:CUR

 

[dud]

From the BBC:

"When Russia's Central Bank raised its base rate by one percentage point last week, it was like a doctor giving a seriously ill patient a headache tablet.

Now, it seems, the bank has reached for the defibrillator.

The 6.5 percentage point increase in the key rate to 17% is a desperate measure. But then the situation is looking increasingly desperate.

On Monday, the rouble suffered its sharpest fall in more than 15 years, losing about 10% of its value against the dollar. Moscow's RTS share index plummeted 10%.

On the streets of Moscow yesterday, there was no sign of panic, there were no queues outside banks. But the Central Bank knows it needs to bolster the national currency to prevent panic from setting in. Hence the large rise in the key interest rate.

But there is a risk. High interest rates slow economic growth, and that's not good with Russia on the verge of recession."


Also, found this very interesting. According to the IMF this is how much each country requires as an oil price to balance their budgets. This is the price that you pay for relying on oil for economic stability:

Libya $184
Iran 131
Algeria 131
Nigeria 123
Venezuela 118
Russia 105
Saudi 104
Iraq 101
UAE 81
Kuwait 78
Qatar 77


So what is the current price of oil?

 

[moonbogg]

What? You think Russia is going to explode or something? This will get fixed.

 

[Genx87]

What? You think Russia is going to explode or something? This will get fixed.

Implode is the right word.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The Soviet Union never went away it is all a big scam.
http://youtu.be/uR7U1AAWuLc

 

[moonbogg]

The Soviet Union never went away it is all a big scam.
http://youtu.be/uR7U1AAWuLc

And if Russia goes away you'll have a different country with a different really rich, really mean guy running things. Same shit.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Also, found this very interesting. According to the IMF this is how much each country requires as an oil price to balance their budgets. This is the price that you pay for relying on oil for economic stability:

Libya $184
Iran 131
Algeria 131
Nigeria 123
Venezuela 118
Russia 105
Saudi 104
Iraq 101
UAE 81
Kuwait 78
Qatar 77


So what is the current price of oil?

It's the oil consumers fault that the oil producers can't balance their budget and diversify their industries.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Rubble might start trading higher than the Ruble.

 

[dud]

It's the oil consumers fault that the oil producers can't balance their budget and diversify their industries.

I agree. I'll give up my cars and start riding a bicycle ... just to save these producers from themselves.

 

[feralkid]

Rubble might start trading higher than the Ruble.

Oh, that's really clever.

 

[moonbogg]

Rubble might start trading higher than the Ruble.

I saw this. I saw what you did.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I agree. I'll give up my cars and start riding a bicycle ... just to save these producers from themselves.

It's karma that when oil exporters were enjoying stratospheric oil prices they didn't thought about it driving up energy efficiency everywhere as a response and when it did finally come down it won't increase demand in any significant manner because they were producing an inelastic commodity which is a double edged sword.

 

[SunnyD]

How does any large former superpower country fix their flailing economy? Start a war of course. After all, it worked for the US. Several times.

Ukraine was just the kindling.

 

[dud]

It's karma that when oil exporters were enjoying stratospheric oil prices they didn't thought about it driving up energy efficiency everywhere as a response and when it did finally come down it won't increase demand in any significant manner because they were producing an inelastic commodity which is a double edged sword.

I couldn't agree more and Iran is the perfect example. Iran has some of the largest oil reserves in the world ... but they have to import refined petrolium products (aka gasoline) because they lack the capability to produce enough domestically. Those who fail to invest when prices are high are doomed to suffer when prices go south.

The price of oil will assuridly rise again but when it does the damage to many of these economies will be difficult to overcome.

 

[maddogchen]

Meanwhile in Russian News:

"Bulletins on the three main channels on 15 December led with a health scare for a famous poet and the aftermath of the siege in Sydney. Official channel Rossiya 1 ignored the rouble completely, while state-controlled Channel One and Gazprom-Media's NTV both dedicated around a minute to the story - in NTV's case close to the end of the hour-long bulletin.

Channel One used a somewhat misleading screen graphic that understated the currency's collapse. It also warned that shops displaying prices in any other currency than the rouble could face stiff fines.

The rouble had fallen by more than 10% on the day.

The last time state TV tried to hush up such a dramatic and nationally important event was when all three main channels completely blanked the protests that followed the disputed parliamentary election in 2011."

 

[Dari]

How does any large former superpower country fix their flailing economy? Start a war of course. After all, it worked for the US. Several times.

Ukraine was just the kindling.

Great idea. Make inflation even higher than it already is by printing roubles