STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSMOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said volatility on financial markets had hampered companies' investment decisions and was something that needed to be brought under control.
"The government and central bank need to actively use the instruments available to them," Putin said."Work is needed, among other things, on limiting unproductive, speculative demand, controlling the outflow of capital, monitoring the behaviour of the main participants of the financial market." The rouble strengthened sharply last week after hitting a near 17-month low of 101.75 to the dollar, as the central bank hiked its key rate by 350 basis points to 12% and exporters increased selling of their foreign currency revenue following discussions with Russian authorities.