Russia: Capital Controls Were Tit-for-Tat Move After Central Bank Reserves Frozen

Russia: Capital Controls Were Tit-for-Tat Move After Central Bank Reserves Frozen
The Russian Central Bank headquarters in downtown Moscow, on July 24, 2020. Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Reuters
Updated:

Restrictions Russia’s central bank imposed in the past month on capital flows out of the country were a tit-for-tat move in response to part of its reserves being frozen by Western countries, the regulator said on Friday.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia for what Moscow calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine have limited the central bank’s ability to support the rouble currency with dollars and euros held in its foreign currency and gold reserves.