Russian Central Bank Sanctions – soon after Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin announced a special military invasion against its neighboring country Ukraine, many countries, including the United States, have been announcing sanctions on Russia.
Till now, many countries, including the United States and European Union, have announced several sanctions on the Central Bank of Russia. Starting from the United States and European Union countries, South Korea and Australia have also announced several sanctions on Russia and the Russian central bank.
Since the first day Russia announced a military invasion against Ukraine, everyone knew that neither NATO nor the European Union was going to help Ukraine and directly go against Russia.
Even Russia has announced several times that anyone helping Ukraine will be considered as a direct participant in the war. Till now, many countries have been helping Ukraine by providing medical, financial, and military aid.
Apart from all that, many developed countries, including the United States of America, Canada, the European Union, and Australia, have been imposing several sanctions against Russia and the Russian central bank.
Western countries consider these sanctions as direct help to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian government. As for the financial experts, these sanctions can help Ukraine and NATO To come up with terms of the ceasefire.
All Russian central bank sanctions
As of today, many countries have announced several sanctions on Russia and the Russian central bank. Let’s take a look at all of them broadly and what could be the impact of Russian central bank sanctions.
Ban From SWIFT Interbank System
The Russian central bank has been banned from the swift interbank messaging system, which is a key component to transfer money from one country to another.
Swift, also known as the society for worldwide interbank financial telecom, is a network that every bank in the world uses to transmit financial information across borders. Recently they have banned several banks in Russia, including the Russian central bank.
Frozen Assets
Apart from the ban from Swift, several countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, have announced that they are going to freeze assets of several Russian banks in their territory.
As per the first reports, more than $600 billion worth of assets might be frozen by these countries alone. Apart from that, they are also going to limit the number of deposits and withdrawals.
Ban Of Visa And MasterCard
Soon after the ban of Swift on the Russian central bank, many international payment processors, including Visa and MasterCard, announced that they were temporarily halting their services in Russia.
As per the announcement, both of the payment processors are not going to process any payment in Russian ATMs and swipes. The sudden ban is directly going to affect millions of Russians at the same time.
No Fresh Investments
In the first series of sanctions owned by the United States, President Joe Biden also announced that now nobody will make fresh investments in Russia. Apart from that, many Russian companies have also been banned by the United States from raising any funds.
Ban Of Google Pay And Apple Pay
After the first round of sanctions announced by The President of the United States, many companies, including Google Pay and Apple Pay, announced that they are no longer going to service in Russia.
There were long lines of people who were not able to enter the Moscow metro soon after the announcement of the ban of Google Pay and Apple Pay in Russia.
Impacts Of Sanctions On Russian Central Bank
After the announcement of these sanctions, the Russian central bank and other Russian banks are having a hard time doing their regular business, including financial transactions in the country itself.
Rising Inflation
Rising inflation in the country will be one of the biggest challenges for the Russian central bank after the sanctions announced by several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
As per the financial experts, without access to foreign reserves, The Russian central bank might be in deep trouble, and it will be very hard for them to maintain the status of the ruble against the euro, dollar, and pound.
Interest Rate Hike
Soon after President Putin announced that they were going to start a special military operation against its neighbor Ukraine, the Russian central bank announced a hike in the interest rate and almost doubled it.
Now the big question comes how long the Russian economy can handle this spike in interest rate. No economy can survive that big of interest spike with so many restrictions to work internationally and get foreign investments.
Impact On Exports And Import
One of the biggest impacts on the Russian central bank and Russian economy due to sanctions now is that they will have a very hard time doing any import or export business. Major countries, including the European Union, are cutting ties with Russia.
Last night, Blinken was in Europe to talk to allies regarding the ban on Russian oil and gas. Because of that, on the 7th of March, every listed commodity rose at least 15%, including crude oil and natural gas.
What Could Be The Next Move Of The Russian Central Bank?
As per the experts, after sanctions on the Russian central bank and the country, they are not going to sit still and let everything happen. It is sure that the Russian central bank will retaliate and try to do unexpected things.
No More Investment Exit
Until now, the Russian central bank has announced that non-Russians can not exit their investment from Russia. The Russian central bank has clearly instructed every financial institution to not allow withdrawals to non-Russians.
Apart from that, the Russian central bank has also announced that Russians should not exit any investment on behalf of foreign investors in the government bond market.
Closed Stock Market
After the first day of the war, the Russian stock market was shut down. The financial experts of Russia believe that it is a wild decision to hold the market for some time before we make any decision regarding Russian central bank sanctions and other economical impacts.
Mass Default Of Russian Creditors
Experts believe that Russia owes a lot of money to Western countries and independent lenders in the west. And if these temporary or permanent Russian central bank sanctions do not stop, those investments are going to be worth 0. That is why it is not a wise decision to cut all the ties with Russia.
Takeaways
Soon after the announcement of Russian central bank sanctions, most of the experts from different countries were worried about their relationship with the Russians.
Experts believe that the Russian economy is going to tank after these sanctions, and it will be very hard for Russians to do any business with the world because other countries might refuse.
Russians are a big name in the commodities and arms export market. As per the statistics, most of the countries in the world have some ties with Russia, and it will be very hard for everyone to back off in a snap.
It is not the first time a powerful country has tried to invade a smaller country. We have seen it in the past also where the United States tried to invade, and some got succeeded in Iraq and Kuwait.
Apart from that, last year, even Israel announced their war against the Gaza Strip, which is a part of Palestine. But nobody announced any sanctions against Israel or its ally, the United States.
Can Russians survive after Russian central bank sanctions?
Experts believe it will be very hard for the Russian government to survive after the sanctions. But they also believe President Putin and top officials might have already discussed these sanctions and tried to self-sufficient Russia before doing anything crazy like an invasion. So, in conclusion, experts believe they can survive, but time will tell the true story.
Why are governments announcing sanctions on Russia and Putin?
Many western governments believe that these sanctions don’t help Russia, and Putin will help them negotiate the terms of the ceasefire with Ukraine. Without these sanctions, Russia will have the upper hand, and Ukrainian will get nothing. u003cbru003eApart from that, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom want to put pressure on its old enemy as they have a chance. We might be thinking for today, but these world leaders think of the future. With the help of these sanctions, they think they can bring Russia to its knees and keep them under control.
How many countries have announced sanctions on Russia in 2022?
Till now, most of the developed countries and you were allowed nations have announced several sanctions on Russia. First of all, the United States of America announced a few sanctions, and after that, the European Union followed the lead.u003cbru003eNow the list has gone even longer as the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea have also announced several restrictions and sanctions on Russia.