European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Saturday evening that he was proposing to remove several Russian banks from the SWIFT organization, to attack Russian oligarchs and to EU leaders. Central Bank of Russia.
The European Union and the United States are attacking the Russian central bank
– US, EU and other allies collectively impose sanctions on Russia, exclude some Russian banks from the global Swift system and Russia has become an economic and financial catastrophe, seizing the Russian central bank’s ability to protect the ruble. – The top representative of the US administration said on Saturday.
Especially one foot The central bank is read as “destructive” by markets. A former official of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation told the media There will be a “disaster” in the currency market on Monday due to mounting restrictions. Why? Let us explain this mechanism.
The central bank in Russia had about $ 640 billion in reserves in mid-February. About 32 percent of them are in the euro, 22 percent. In gold, 16 percent is dollars and 13 percent. In Japanese yuan. As the “Washington Post” writes, Most reserves are located in the computers of the West Central Bank in cities such as New York, London and Frankfurt.
The freezing of these assets means that the central bank will not be able to sell “hard currency” in the market to strengthen the ruble (e.g. selling dollars and buying Russian currency will cause its value). So ruble devaluation and property freeze is a really powerful blow.
“It would be useful to freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank, which aims to create an immediate financial crisis. Starting tomorrow. Only if Russia continues the war will ruble sales deepen and the risk of property freezing increase. – Wojciech Stępień, economist at BNP Paribas writes.
The Russians will only be left with the sale of gold or cryptocurrency shares. “They cannot sell their property in euros and US dollars. They have to sell gold, for example, to access coins. At one point, Russian gold could be seen as blood diamonds from Africa“- Pav Boris, chairman of the Polish Development Fund.
“Destructive impact on the economy”
Michael Bernstam, of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, told The Washington Post that full and immediate approval of the central bank would be granted. “The only financial fine that will keep Moscow out of the occupation.”
According to him, the attack on the central bank will prompt Russian citizens and companies to buy dollars faster. “A huge panic will erupt. The exchange rate will fall.” You can see it now, because the Russians in Moscow are actually attacking local ATMs. Unfortunately, according to experts, the real sanctions hit not only the Kremlin, but also the Russian community and the states that impose these sanctions.
In turn, Richard Neptune of Columbia University argues in the newspaper that “dramatic costs will be imposed on the Russian state” if the actions of the West are coordinated.
Simultaneously, it means that all Russian reserves are blocked and no longer usable. He argues that this could have a catastrophic effect on the Russian economy.
Will sanctions disarm the Russian fortress? “She is a myth”
Discussing sanctions against Russia’s central bank, a White House spokesman confirmed in an interview with PAP that Russia’s practically means that it can not use its powerful foreign reserves to protect the ruble’s exchange rate. Western companies will be banned from selling rubles to the central bank, resulting in a sharp fall in the Russian currency.
See also: What can be done to stop Putin? The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls for action
– Putin’s central bank will lose the ability to weaken the effect of our sanctions. The ruble will weaken further, inflation will rise and the central bank will be insecure (…) which will show “Fortress Russia”, Getting the economy out of the way is a myth, the official said. As he points out, any cost borne by Western economies is far less than what Russia allowed to occupy Ukraine without penalty.
“We will take care of their boats, their luxury apartments, their money, and their ability to send their children to good schools in the West.” Said a representative of the White House.
The official stressed that the previously announced restrictions have begun to take effect.
“Credit costs to Russia doubled, S&P rating agency slashed Russian bonds within 24 hours, and demand for cash in Russia increased 58 times. ” – The officer calculated. “In short, Russia has become a global economic and financial solution,” he added.