INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia's Central Bank announced Wednesday that it plans to step up support for the ruble, which has gradually weakened over the past 18
months due to Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.The Bank of Russia said that between Sept
14 and 22 it would sell 21.4 billion rubles ($218.5 million) worth of foreign currency each day, around 10 times the current volume it sells
the Russian government."Holders of Eurobonds will be paid by the Finance Ministry in rubles in accordance with the established procedure,
and therefore a portion of these bondholders may create additional demand for foreign currency," the Central Bank said.Russian authorities
instituted the payment of these bonds in rubles instead of the foreign currency they are formally denominated in following a cascade of
Western sanctions.The additional volume by Russia's Central Bank "will help respond to possible additional demand for foreign currency and
reduce volatility on the market during this period."The ruble has traded with extreme volatility in the 18 months since Russia invaded
once more in recent months.It fell precipitously at the start of August, breaking past 100 rubles against the dollar for the first time
ruble to under 94 against the dollar, but it has slowly weakened to around 98 against the U.S
currency.A dispute has broken out in recent weeks between the government and the Russian Central Bank, whose governor Elvira Nabiullina is
against additional government intervention in the economy to avoid weakening it further.Meanwhile, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has
