Russian ruble falls 11 percent against the dollar
(AGI) Moscow, Dec 16 - The Russian central bank's attempt tosupport the ruble by raising interest rates to 6.5 basis pointshas done little to prevent the currency's decline against thedollar. After initially rising by 9 percent on Tuesday, theruble plummeted by as much as 20 percent before closing down 11percent. The ruble has decreased over 50 percent against thedollar since the beginning of the year, a drop reminiscent ofthe crisis in 1998, and a heavy blow to Russia's buying power.Moscow's foreign currency reserves may be markedly vaster thanin 1998, but the