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Ruble continues free fall
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September 4, 1998: 6:19 a.m. ET
Russian currency falls another 21 pct., Chernomyrdin outlines plan
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Russian ruble continued its sharp decline Friday as acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin outlined plans for an "economic dictatorship" and struggled to convince the opposition party in parliament that he's the right man for the job.
The ruble fell 21 percent in Moscow Friday to 16.99 to the dollar. The beleaguered currency has dropped 63 percent since Aug. 17.
The free falling ruble has boosted prices on food products and other commodities.
The Kremlin on Friday also handed a power-sharing deal to the Communist-led lower house of parliament, the State Duma. The deal is similar to one drawn up last weekend, but seeking one concession, the Duma's speaker said.
"The text is similar, practically the same, although it's true one paragraph has been excluded where it says the president takes into account the opinion of the Duma when dismissing ministers," Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov told deputies.
The Duma, which rejected Chernomyrdin in its first vote Monday, votes a second time later on Friday on Yeltsin's prime minister-designate.
Most members of the Duma have indicated they are going to vote against Chernomyrdin again. If the Duma rejects Yeltsin's nominee for prime minister three times, the president has to dissolve the chamber and call a fresh election in four months.
Chernomyrdin, however, isn't waiting for Duma approval to start drawing up a new course of political action.
On Friday, the acting prime minister outlined plans for an "economic dictatorship" that would continue the course of market reforms. Chernomyrdin also said he supports the concept of printing more money in a controlled format to pay back 20 billion ruble, or $1.2 billion, in unpaid pensions, and 7.5 billion rubles in wages.
He said he will allow the ruble to float freely, allowing market forces to determine its value.
Billionaire financier George Soros, who has a large Russian portfolio, said Russia will need to borrow another $15 billion from the Group of Seven industrialized nations to return stability to the ruble.
--from staff and wire reports
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