Putin plans no special statements on financial markets — Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to make no special statements on the current situation on the financial markets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told the Kommersant newspaper.
Putin is expected to voice his stance on the issue not earlier than during the annual press conference due on Thursday, the report says. Peskov confirmed that the event is to be held “routinely.”
On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chaired a government meeting on the financial and economic situation in the country. Russian Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said Russian government members have worked out measures to stabilize the currency market.
The situation is very complex but “we are not the first and we’re not the last to pass through similar circumstances,” Ulyukayev said. “In this respect, it is important to ensure the unity of actions by the Bank of Russia and the government,” he said.

“These actions will be aimed at ensuring greater balance between demand and supply on the domestic foreign currency market,” he said.
Russia’s Central Bank suddenly raised the key rate early on Tuesday by 6.5 percentage points to 17% in an attempt to halt the ruble’s devaluation.
Many market participants expected a sharp rate increase at the Central Bank’s interest rate policy meeting on December 11 but the regulator increased the main lending rate by just one percentage point to 10.5% The market shrugged off the regulator’s decision and the ruble continued its free fall.
After the rate decision, the ruble strengthened against the dollar and the euro but resumed its steep fall afterwards.
Russian Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said the ruble was falling under the impact of external factors.