Russia's ruble currency slides to new dollar low

The Russian ruble currency declined sharply against the dollar on Tuesday despite an aggressive intervention just hours earlier by Russia's Central Bank to halt the slide by hiking its benchmark interest rate to 17%.

The ruble fell to a new low of 73 against the dollar on Tuesday.

Initially, the ruble reacted favorably to the monetary policy move to prop up the troubled currency. It rallied for a few hours before sliding back into record-low territory.

The Central Bank's rate rise — from 10.5% — was its biggest single move since 1998, Bloomberg reported. That is the same year that the Russian government defaulted on its sovereign debt.

The ruble has lost about half its value since the start of the year because of a collapse in oil prices and Western sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine. Oil prices remained around five-year lows Tuesday as supply outstrips demand.

Elvira Nabiullina, Russia's Central Bank chairwoman, said the rate hike was designed to encourage Russians to open ruble-denominated deposits. However, she conceded that the ruble's value will not be immediately influenced by the rate hike and said it will take the ruble "some time" before it finds a fair value.

Contributing: Associated Press