MOSCOW: Russia's ruble on Thursday plummeted to new record lows against the dollar, tumbling by over 4 percent at one point on the back of low oil prices and putting pressure on authorities to react.
The ruble -- which has already been battered over the past 18 months by low energy prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine -- fell briefly down to 85.99 to the dollar before recovering to around 84.3 in the afternoon.
The ruble also fell against the euro, dropping to around 96.7 rubles per euro before firming back up to around 91.75.
Russia's recession-hit economy relies on oil and gas for over half of its budget revenues and the authorities are coming under increasing pressure to act to stave off further damage to the currency.
The Kremlin insisted that the ruble's plunge was "not a collapse", saying the authorities would be able to stop the rot.
"The exchange rate is really changing, the rate is volatile, but it is far from being a collapse," spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian agency Interfax.
"There is no basis to suggest the central bank does not have plans drawn up to avoid a collapse."
With oil hitting 12-year lows, the ruble on Wednesday slipped past its previous weakest point of 80.1 rubles to the dollar that it crashed to during a dramatic slump in December 2014.
The Russian currency has so far this year lost over 12 percent of its value against the dollar, meaning that a recession officials had been claiming was essentially over looks set to last longer.
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