Russia bans large scale currency transactions

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 09 Mar 2022 by Alex Teddy
On March 8 Russia banned foreign currency sales. This is an attempt to hold up the value of the currency. This law will last until September 9 2022 and then be reviewed. Those with any foreign currency accounts can withdraw USD 10 000 and only in USD not other currencies.The official rate is 120 RUB to the USD. But most banks offer rather more RUB for the USD than this.Fitch reduced Russia's rating to junk on March 7. Russia is no longer considered creditworthy. But Russia has larger gold reserves than the USA. This can help it weather the storm for several months assuming it has access to at least half of them and/or can arrange transactions with gold.Pharmaceuticals will run out in as little as 3 months. Most medicines are imported and paid for in USD or EUR.The Moscow Stock Exchange has been closed since March 1. The government fears panic selling if it reopens. Protests continue across Russia. Over 14 000 people have been arrested for anti-war demonstrations since February 28. Indian students have been evacuated. This is possible due to diplomatic pressure for India which abstained in the UN vote on the Ukraine situation.On March 8 Zelensky addressed the UK Parliament by zoom link. No one has ever been allowed to do that before. How vowed to fight to the very end.

Now read on...

Register to sample a report

Register
Sign-in
Forgot your password?
Copyright 2025 GlobalSource Partners. All rights reserved. This is prepared for GlobalSource Partners’ clients and may not be redistributed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, retransmitted or disclosed, in whole or in part, or in any form or manner, without the express written consent of GlobalSource Partners. This is distributed simultaneously to our website and other portals used by GlobalSource Partners. The information herein was obtained from various sources and is believed to be reliable but GlobalSource Partners does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Neither GlobalSource Partners nor any Country Analyst, officer or employee accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses rising from any use of this or its contents.