Russia's rouble rallied to its strongest level against the dollar since late 2008 on Friday after the central bank hiked all key interest rates, paving the way for more speculative inflows from yield-hungry investors. The central bank surprised the market with the broad tightening move, signalling that it is ready to allow the rouble to appreciate further as authorities seek to keep inflation under control ahead of elections next year.
It raised the deposit rate and the refinancing rate by 25 basis points apiece, to 3.25 and 8.25 percent respectively. The rouble was 0.8 percent firmer at 27.31 to the dollar after briefly touching 27.25, its strongest since December 2008.