Russia's central bank makes huge interest rate hike to try to prop up falling ruble
Russia's central bank made a big interest rate hike of 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday, an emergency move designed to fight inflation and strengthen the ruble after the country's currency reached its lowest value since early in the war with Ukraine. The central bank says demand has exceeded the country's ability to expand economic output, increasing inflation and affecting "the ruble's exchange rate dynamics through elevated demand for imports."