How sanctions will prevent Russia from using its $600 billion-plus rainy day fund to prop up the ruble
By Mitchell Hartman
The combination of the Ukraine war itself and the international sanctions it triggered caused the ruble to tank Monday morning. The Russian currency started the trading day by losing a quarter of its value. Russia’s central bank had a plan in place to prop up the ruble in case of emergency — a rainy day fund worth more than $600 billion, comprising assets parked in banks and institutions all over the world….“The point of these sanctions is to make it impossible for Russia to use its reserves,” said Karen Petrou, at Federal Financial Analytics. She pointed out that U.S. and European authorities are freezing, not seizing, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves. “It doesn’t take anything from Russia. Russia still has its reserves, but it can’t use them. They’re useless, they’re meaningless, they’re no longer a resource for a stable Russian system and the war on Ukraine,” she said…