During the 1998 Russian financial crisis, which currency was sharply devalued?

During the 1998 Russian financial crisis, the Russian ruble was sharply devalued.

Russia announced a devaluation of the ruble on August 17, 1998, while also declaring a temporary moratorium on some foreign debt payments. The government had been under severe pressure from falling oil prices, weak tax collection, political instability, and the after-effects of the Asian financial crisis.

The currency crisis damaged Russian banks and businesses and caused heavy losses for investors holding Russian debt and equities. The Moscow stock market plunged, while confidence in the government’s ability to maintain its exchange-rate policy collapsed.

The crisis is sometimes remembered only as a debt default, but it involved several linked events: ruble devaluation, domestic debt restructuring, and banking-system stress. Russia later benefited from rising oil prices and economic recovery, but the 1998 episode remained a major example of emerging-market financial contagion.