Ruble at Lowest Point Since Russia Defaulted in 1998

Russia's ruble (RUB) hit an all-time low against the dollar Thursday, trading as low as 86 rubles to a dollar. At press time, the ruble had crawled its way back up to 82 rubles a dollar. The ruble had not hit 80 to a dollar since the Russian financial crisis of 1998, which saw the Russian Federation default on its debts and devalue the ruble.

A spokesperson for Russian president Vladimir Putin refused to use the word "collapse" to describe the currency's fall while acknowledging that rates were volatile, according to Yahoo.

The ruble has fallen off with the price of oil, which has seen sharp falls as the market crashes with the new year. Russia is one of the top exporters of oil, contributing 10.5 percent of oil exports in 2014 with $152.6 billion, according to World's Top Exports. A weak currency slightly cushions the blow of falling export prices, however.

At time of writing, the ruble stood at 82.6 rubles to a dollar.