The Russian central bank has announced a series of measures aimed at "stabilising the financial system" following the plunge in the value of the rouble this week.
The seven technical measures seek to ease access to foreign currency and protect banks from having to book losses that would weaken their financial strength.
The central bank also reiterated it would work with the government to recapitalise some lenders in 2015.
The announcement helped to stem the dramatic fall in Russia's rouble, after a 50% drop against the dollar this year.
Losses were also partly contained by exporters selling dollars in preparation for paying their monthly tax bills.
The rouble stood at less than 60 to the dollar by the evening, having stood at 68.58 roubles per dollar this morning.
The rouble has come under heavy selling pressure this week, forcing the central bank to increase its key interest rate by an unexpected 650 basis points from 10.5% to 17% - an emergency move that did little to buttress the currency.
The situation poses a major challenge for President Vladimir Putin whose popularity, based partly on providing stability and prosperity, is at risk from the rouble's decline, which is damaging Russia's credibility among investors.
Putin holds his annual end-of-year news conference tomorrow, when he will field questions from a studio audience ad well as from television viewers around Russia, and is expected to comment on the rouble's decline.
His press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted as saying the president did not plan to make any "special declaration" and was not expected to comment in detail before the news conference.
Putin failed in a state-of-the-nation address on December 4 to offer any "big ideas" to turn around the economy - which is sliding towards recession after being hit by Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and by a fall in the global price of oil on which the Russian economy is heavily dependent.
The rouble briefly strengthened this morning after the Russian Finance Ministry said it had started selling foreign currency left over on its accounts - a move seen by traders as an attempt to shore up the currency.
But the ministry later said it had only around $7 billion in leftover foreign currency and that it had not decided yet how much it would sell.
The rouble's slide has stirred memories of the 1998 Russian financial crisis, when the currency collapsed within a matter of days.
Investors are awaiting further concerted action from the government to stabilise the currency market, which has in recent days seen the largest intraday swings since 1998, also prompting increased public demand for dollars.
Market participants said exporters were selling foreign currency today in targeted amounts, restraining losses in the rouble.
Russia's central bank has conducted over $80 billion in forex market interventions this year to defend the rouble, which has been dragged lower by falling oil prices, Western sanctions over Ukraine and an increasing sense of market panic.
The bank said it had conducted $1.961 billion worth of forex market interventions on December 15.
