As Moscow increases military spending and Western sanctions weigh on its energy exports, the currency dropped below the psychologically important level of 100 to the US dollar.
there are many currencies that go well below 100 per dollar; i wonder why this is a marker of any kind.
It’s purely psychological and only of note to those that regularly convert between the ruble and USD. That doesn’t mean it isn’t unimportant though - many Russians may now change their behavior (like buying foreign currency ASAP, which can further weaken their currency).
Inter-country commerce is often done in US currency if ones own currency is extremely volatile. Nothing worse than trading in something else and before you convert to your local currency the value drops out.
there are many currencies that go well below 100 per dollar; i wonder why this is a marker of any kind.
It’s purely psychological and only of note to those that regularly convert between the ruble and USD. That doesn’t mean it isn’t unimportant though - many Russians may now change their behavior (like buying foreign currency ASAP, which can further weaken their currency).
Inter-country commerce is often done in US currency if ones own currency is extremely volatile. Nothing worse than trading in something else and before you convert to your local currency the value drops out.