Russian ruble bounces to 2-year high

The financial Russia said it has paid $565 million in eurobond bonds due this year, as well as 84 million eurobond bonds maturing in 2024. Both payments were made in USD in accordance with the bond contract provisions. votes, Russian Ministry of Finance information.

“Payments are made in the issuing currency of the respective eurobonds – in USD,” the Russian Finance Ministry confirmed.

On April 6, Russia said it had paid for those bonds in rubles, leading to three days later, S&P announced that Russia had failed to pay its foreign debt on time.

CNN reported that, although the payments in USD are past due, the payment in USD by Russia is seen as a last resort to avoid default.

Bond payments typically come with a 30-day grace period. With these Russian bond payments, the grace period will end on May 4.

Russia has money to pay its debt but can’t access about half of it after the West imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia. Russia’s foreign exchange reserveswith a total value of about 315 billion USD.

But Russia has clearly found a way to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt without accessing its frozen reserves.

The payment must come from a new source of money, because the United States has not lifted restrictions on the source of the Russian sanctioned dollar, a US Treasury official said.

The news sent the Russian ruble, which has been on the rise for two months, to a two-year high against the dollar. On April 29, 1 USD bought about 68 rubles, less than half what could be bought in early March.

Russia was able to push the ruble despite global sanctions through raising interest rates, preventing Russian brokers from selling securities held by foreigners and demanding payments for oil and gas in rubles, among other actions.