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Moscow - The Russian rouble slid to new lows on Friday, falling to almost 48.5 against the dollar and to below 60 roubles against the euro.
The currency bounced back after media reports of an urgent meeting of Russia's Central Bank. By late afternoon the rouble was trading at 46 to the dollar at 57 to the euro.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov assured that the Russian state has enough foreign currency reserves to defend the rouble.
"The Central Bank is now reducing its interference on the foreign exchange market. I think this is justified," Siluanov told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Russia's Central Bank announced earlier this week that it would restrict currency interventions to $350m per day. The decision is part of its goal of a freely floating rouble exchange by January 2015.
The Central Bank also upped its main interest rate from 8 to 9.5% last week in a bid to fight inflation.
The Russian economy has been hit by western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, but analysts say that it is mainly dependent on the oil price, which has dropped to below 80 dollars per barrel this week - from $115 in the summer.
