ALBAWABA – The Russian Rouble Stabilized on Wednesday after the central bank hiked its benchmark interest rate to 12 percent following an emergency Tuesday, news agencies reported.
Moscow also launched the testing phase for its new national digital currency, also named the Rouble, earlier on Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A digital rouble could help protect the Russian economy against dollarization and enable open the country to virtually non-trackable investments from around the world.
According to the central bank of Russia, the digital rouble should be ready for full-scale launch in 2025-2027, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, data from the Moscow Exchange showed the Russian Rouble stabilized at around 97 per dollar at 8:46 GMT, after having fallen below 101 on Monday.
Overall, the rouble has shed around 30 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year, AFP reported, as Moscow grapples with falling export revenues and higher military spending.
Inflation also remains stubbornly high, despite the bank tightening monetary policy, with consumer prices rising 4.3 percent year-on-year in July.
Russia hopes that blockchain technology will help it evade sanctions, according to AFP.
The country now joins with 20 other nations around the world that have entered the pilot stage of launching national digital currencies, according to a tally from the Atlantic Council think tank.
Moscow's aim is to make its financial system more flexible and limit the impact of international restrictions, France 24 reported.
According to founder of crypto-focused investment fund ARK36 Mikkel Morch, the move will also allow Russia to avoid banks where it faces restrictions.
Most Russian banks have been banned from the main system used for international transactions, pushing Moscow to look for other ways to de-dollarise its economy, AFP reported.
In the meantime, a survey by state-owned pollster VCIOM found that around six out of 10 Russians have a "weak understanding" of the government's aims and are not ready to use the currency.
