On Monday, the U.S. announced it is freezing all transactions of Russian central bank assets freezing any of those assets held by Americans.
Fox Business reports:
The freeze is effective immediately, a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters on Monday. The official said that the U.S.’s actions are in conjunction and cooperation with the European Union, Japan, the UK, Canada, and others. This means that not only will Russia not be able to access funds in U.S. dollars, they will be unable to use dollars in the other countries turn to other banks and other currencies.
By making the move effective immediately, before markets open, the official said, Russia will be unable to move assets to avoid or mitigate the consequences.
“Our strategy,” the official said, “is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backward as long as President Putin decides to go forward with his campaign.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with economic advisers on the global sanctions hammering his country, calling the West an “empire of lies.” Among those present at the Kremlin meeting was Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), this isn’t a complete block of the central bank and some transactions, particularly those that are “energy-related,” will be authorized. The move is meant to cripple Russia’s economy and use up the country’s “rainy day fund.”
