Russia spent record US$11.3b in one day defending rouble

Russia sold a record US$11.3 billion in foreign currency to support the rouble when it came under unprecedented pressure due to concerns about conflict in Ukraine, central bank data showed yesterday.

The Russian central bank moved on Monday to prevent the Russian currency from falling further in value, after the market reacted with panic to parliamentary approval for President Vladimir Putin's request to allow military action in Ukraine.

The information was disclosed in the bank's daily release of currency interventions and no further details were given.

But the central bank had indicated on Monday that it was prepared to make major interventions, saying that due to the increased volatility it was assessing the market situation daily.

"This measure was adopted to prevent the risks for financial stability by limiting the rouble exchange rate fluctuations," it said in a statement on Monday.

Russian news agencies said that the amount of foreign currency sold by the central bank was by far the most since records began, beating the previous record from September 2011 by some five times.