Posted on 02/06/2015 8:26:31 AM PST by Perseverando
A columnist for Russia's Vedomosti newspaper, a joint venture between the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, has advised readers to pull their savings out of banks and convert them into physical dollars.
The ruble has tanked over the past year, falling over 50% from 33 rubles to the dollar to 67 rubles at market open Friday. The collapse in the currency's value has helped drive up prices in the country, which is heavily reliant on imports, with inflation surging to 15% in January.
Now, it seems, it is affecting sentiment on the streets. Andrey Panov, a freelance columnist for Vedomosti, writes:
It is better to keep money in foreign currency (dollars more than euros as the US economy is doing better than the EU) and prepare for what many economists are already saying could be a return to the conditions of the 1990s ... It is better to take your savings, or at least a portion of them, out of the banks. Who can guarantee that what will happen next won't be a situation in which all foreign currency deposits are forcibly converted [into rubles] or frozen? After all, the black market in cash worked even in Soviet times.
Although Panov's article is an opinion piece and not necessarily representative of the broader mood in the country, it nevertheless speaks to a particular concern affecting the Russian urban middle class. In December, over 100 Muscovites took to the streets to demand help with foreign-currency mortgages as the ruble crisis forced up repayments, in many cases higher than their monthly salaries.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
A glimpse into our not too distant future I fear.
We can not do this to Russia and think they will not strike us back.
Prepper Ping-Worthy?
Potter will pay 50 cents on the dollar......
I’ll pay 52! ;)
You are watering down my market !
Those who would bait the bear had better have a backup plan if/when the bear gets loose. And the U.S.’s current backup plan is keep backing up, and backing up, and backing up...
Maybe we can join forces and corner the Ruble Market, then dabble in Orange Juice Futures? LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLySXTIBS3c
LOL!
The Greeks would be well served in taking this advice also.
Well, if you keep backing up faster than someone else, you’ll be fine - right? No? Errrrr.....
When I was in Russia in the later 1990s, the U.S. dollar was the preferred currency (except in govt. run shops where everything was priced in Rubles). In fact there was talk that the Duma was considering adopting the dollar as the official medium of exchange.
Ah, so hussein is meddling in a foreign country's affairs. How's that "overreach" abroad working out for ya?
I have long recommended keeping an adequate supply of cash in the home, out of the grasp of the government or the banks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.