The rouble fell to its lowest level in more than a year on Wednesday as Russians faced the prospect of a second successive year of recession in 2016 amid continued oil price weakness. The Russian economy is expected to contract 3.7 percent this year, hit by falling oil prices and western sanctions, while officials had previously suggested the situation was stabilising, with President Vladimir Putin saying the “peak of the crisis” had passed. But the drop in the oil price has tempered those optimistic expectations. Senior figures in the Russian political and business elite warned this week that the country should brace itself for another year of recession. On Wednesday, benchmark Brent crude oil fell more than 3 per cent to $36.64 a barrel as Saudi Arabia reiterated it would not cut production in response to lower oil prices after announcing a radical austerity programme earlier this week. That helped to trigger a slide in the rouble to more than 73 to the dollar — its weakest level on record apart from a brief rout last December that threatened a run on the Russian banking system. By early evening in Moscow, the rouble was trading 1.2 per cent weaker, at Rbs73.1570 to the dollar, down 26 per cent since the start of the year.