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Vladimir Putin promises 'harsh' measures to fight ruble traders as currency crashes
Russia's President has announced plans to curb rising capital flight from the country, as the economy faces recession in 2015
As Russia hurtles towards a recession, Vladimir Putin, the country’s President, has slammed speculators for the decline of the ruble.
The currency has slumped by close to 40pc against the dollar since the start of the year, when it traded at $0.03040.
Speaking in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Mr Putin acknowledged that the country’s own economic ministry now believes the economy will fall into recession in 2015.
“I am sure if none of this happened, they would have invented another excuse to hold back the growing potential of Russia”, Mr Putin said.
He went on to say that “every time they believe that Russia gets too strong, they use these instruments. But it’s pointless to talk to Russia in the language of force”.
Mr Putin promised to curb capital flight, which the government's economy ministry estimated would reach $125 (£80bn) in 2014, up from a previous forecast of $100bn.
Russia would introduce an amnesty on capital returning to the country, Mr Putin announced, in an attempt to stem the tide of rising investment outflows.
The strength of the ruble has suffered a pronounced fall since tensions over Ukraine and Russia boiled over at the start of the year.
The decline has been exacerbated by a sharp fall in the value of oil traded on global financial markets.
Mr Putin has previously suggested that the decline in global prices has been engineered by political forces.
In early November he said: “The obvious reason for the decline in global oil prices is the slowdown in the rate of [global] economic growth which means consumption is being reduced in a whole range of countries”.
In addition to this, “a political component is always present in oil prices. Furthermore, at some moments of crisis it starts to feel like it is the politics that prevails in the pricing of energy resources”, he added.