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To: Enigma who wrote (25799)	1/10/1999 2:29:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116791

Russian rouble slides to new low 10:25 a.m. Jan 10, 1999 Eastern By Patrick Lannin MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russia's rouble dropped to a new low Sunday, sliding to an official rate of more than 22 to the dollar for the first time. The central bank fixed its official rate for Monday at 22.40 to the dollar compared with the previous fixing of 21.91. Russia's markets were open Sunday after public holidays Thursday and Friday for Russian Orthodox Christmas. The rouble is now down more than 70 percent since devaluation by the government in August last year, one of the major factors that sparked Russia's latest financial crisis. ''Everyone is buying dollars in Russia because no one believes in the currency or the government,'' said Alexei Zabotkine, fixed income analyst at finance house United Financial Group. The fresh bout of weakness has seen the battered currency slide 7.8 percent since its fixing at 20.65 for Dec. 31. The central bank fixing was based on morning trade on the SELT market of the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, which is a restricted session where exporting companies must repatriate their hard currency earnings. In the later, open session of trade, the rouble weakened further, registering an average rate of 23.3004 to the dollar for roubles for settlement Monday compared with 22.4953. Zabodkine said the outlook was for continued rouble weakness as confidence in the country remained low and as prices for oil, Russia's top export commodity, were set to stay weak. He said the government and central bank may have to take more measures to stop the outflow of hard currency from Russia, which is undermining the rouble. The government has already introduced a rule obliging exporters to repatriate 75 percent of their hard currency earnings although this and an earlier 50 percent ruling have failed to halt the rouble's slide. The government has based its 1999 budget plans on a target rate of 21.50 roubles per dollar, although many analysts have said this goal is very unrealistic. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.