As Russia’s economy continues to plunge under the pressure of the harsh Western sanctions, Western companies have been rushing to pull out their investments from the country. Russia’s Prime Minister has announced a temporary ban to prevent foreigners from pulling their money from the country.
Foreign investors in Russia barred from liquidating assets
The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has signed a decree that temporarily bars foreign investors from liquidating their assets. These investors have also been prevented from withdrawing more than $10,000 from the country.
Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, revealed this ban on Tuesday, saying that it will prevent a capital flight from Russia. Some large Western institutions are already leaving Russia. Shell and BP have announced they will be halting their Russian investments.
The prime minister stated that this ban would allow foreign investors to take time before succumbing to political pressure and selling their assets in Russia. Mishustin said that foreign investors were forced to make decisions without considering economic factors.
Before announcing this ban, the Russian government had announced it would prevent brokers from selling securities owned by foreign investors at the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).
Russia protecting its financial system
Following the Western sanctions, Russia is taking strategic steps to shield its economy from total collapse. The Russian ruble has been down by more than 30% over the past few days, and it now sits at all-time lows against the US dollar and Bitcoin (BTC/USD).
People have been rushing to exchange their Russian ruble for Bitcoin, with reports saying that some users have been forced to part with $20,000 more for the price of one Bitcoin due to increased demand. Bank of Russia recently increased the interest rates to 20% to buffer the economy from the increased effects of inflation. Raising interest rates will encourage deposits and motivate savings in the Russian ruble. The governor of the bank of Russia also said that it would be using SBFS as an alternative to the SWIFT system to maintain connections with foreign banks.
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