Russian central bank moves to stem plunge in ruble

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s central bank has sharply raised its key rate to 20% from 9.5% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent a run on banks. The ruble plunged about 30% Monday against the U.S. dollar after Western nations moved to block Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system. It bounced even lower but was quoted at a record low 105.27 per dollar, down from about 84 per dollar late Friday. Fresh sanctions by western nations against Russia included restrictions meant to crimp the central bank’s access to over $600 billion in reserves and hinder its ability to support the ruble. The weaker ruble is expected to cause inflation to surge.