Russia stopped publishing foreign trade data for the first time since 1997

According to the schedule, the Central Bank of Russia will announce the foreign trade balance of January and February on April 11. However, the bank announced on the same day that it was suspending the release of this data, Reuters reported.

The Central Bank of Russia did not explain the reason for suspending the publication of foreign trade data. This monthly metric can be tracked since 1997 on the bank’s website.

In January, the latest data available, Russia’s foreign trade surplus fell to $21.17 billion from $26.72 billion the previous month.

Russia is under Western sanctions as the US, European Union and its allies respond to Russia’s special military operation in the region. Ukraine from 24.2.

Sanctions have cut Russia off from the global financial system, and Western countries are stepping up the pressure by reducing Russian energy imports.

The Bank of Russia previously suspended weekly publication of gold and foreign exchange reserves, and also stopped publishing statistics of the banking sector.

The bank has continued to release data this week, showing gold reserves and Russia’s foreign exchange fell to $606.5 billion as of April 1, down from $643.2 billion the day before the Ukraine war.

The Russian Energy Ministry had previously suspended the publication of monthly oil and gas production data, citing technical problems.