The United States on Monday implemented an unprecedentedly harsh sanction against the Russian central bank, which it intends to reduce to impotence in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Washington has banned with immediate effect any transaction with the Russian monetary institution, announced the Treasury Department before the opening of US markets.
“This decision has the effect of immobilizing all the assets that the central bank of Russia holds in the United States, or which would be held anywhere by American persons”, is it specified in a press release.
In fact, this decision, in connection with similar sanctions taken by many allies of the United States, will severely limit Moscow’s ability to use its abundant foreign exchange reserves to buy rubles.
These operations to defend the Russian currency, which is already collapsing, “will no longer be possible and ‘Fortress Russia’ is left defenseless,” commented a senior official of the American administration during a conference call.
He estimated that these coordinated sanctions would trigger a “vicious circle” for the Russian economy, and predicted: “Inflation will most certainly soar, purchasing power will collapse, investments will collapse”.
“Our goal is to ensure that the Russian economy will shrink as long as President Putin decides to move forward with the invasion of Ukraine,” the senior official said.
The United States also implemented sanctions on Monday against the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a public financial institution used by Russia in particular to raise funds abroad, and run by a close associate of Russian President Kirill Dmitriev.
“This fund and its management are symbols of the deep corruption in Russia and its influence peddling” abroad, estimated the source quoted above.