RUBLE RISES ON GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS.

The ruble rose against the dollaragain yesterday, closing at 4995 to $1. That is the first time theruble has been worth more than 5,000 to the dollar since the end ofApril. Part of the reason for the ruble’s rise is that Russians can nowearn 110-130 percent interest on ruble-denominated bank accounts, asagainst only 70 percent interest for hard currency accounts. But amajor part of this reflects improving economic news. Segodnya reportedMay 30 that the country’s GDP was up 10 percent in the first quarter of1995 over the same period a year ago. It claimed that Moscow’s tougheconomic policies had forced businessmen to learn how to cope with themarket. At the same time, however, the paper noted that Russian bankersbelieve Moscow should protect domestic production with tariffs onagriculture and consumer goods.

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