How sanctions are weighing on Russia’s economy

            Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia’s central bank, went up to a microphone last week to the sound of cameras clicking. She had horrible news for her country.

“The Russian economy’s conditions have changed substantially”, Nabiullina remarked in Russian. “The new restrictions imposed by other powers have resulted in a significant increase in the ruble exchange rate and hampered Russia’s ability to utilise its gold and foreign currency reserves”. Russia is in for a world of suffering as a result of one of the strongest penalty campaigns against any nation in recent history.

Nabiullina said that the Bank of Russia was hiking its main interest rate to an all-time high of 20% in order to safeguard the Russian ruble from collapse and battle inflation. That is greater than any analogous Fed rate in the United States, the Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate. Nabiullina’s black turtleneck reminded me of Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Holmes.