The Kremlin on Monday said Russia's economic reality had changed but saw no reason to doubt the effectiveness and reliability of the central bank, which hiked interest rates to 20% as it sought to shield the economy from unprecedented Western sanctions.
The bank has also introduced some capital controls as the West seeks to restrict its ability to deploy $640 billion of forex and gold reserves and cut Russia's major banks out of the SWIFT financial network, making it hard for lenders and companies to make and receive payments. Those moves have sent the rouble tumbling to record lows.
