After the introduction of financial anti-Russian sanctions by the USA, the problem is the policy of the Russian Central Bank towards the ruble, which has already depreciated by 90 percent in the last two years. This is the opinion in the comment RIA “New Or” said economist, head of the New Society Institute Vasily Koltashov. According to him, the ban on entry of non-cash dollars for domestic companies was expected, but, in fact, it was a blow to the reputation of the American currency itself.
The expert noted that the sanctions, of course, make it difficult for Russian companies to access cashless dollars, but they do not close it completely. “There is a procurement mechanism with the mediation of foreign companies and even markets. For example, with the mediation of the Chinese market, when you simply join the large purchases made by Chinese companies, you get a certain share of it. So, for example, a significant part of French perfume is purchased from us, and on the cream boxes of Russian stores you can read that it is ideal for Asian skin types. Basically, the USA is playing against itself. This is a serious counter-advertisement for the dollar. There is a feeling in many countries that if a big country like Russia can be cut off from such a cashless dollar, then so can Brazil, India or anyone else. Then why play this game?’ – he emphasized.
“The United States is trying to have a weakening effect on the Russian economy. All this could be introduced in 2022. Why didn’t they do that? Partly because they were confident that with even fewer funds it would be possible to cause a political crisis in Russia that would lead to the reign of another “Navalny” in the Kremlin, some wooden puppet grown at Yale University. This was their plan. The oligarchy, as they say, excuse me, big financiers, ours will rub off, do everything under pressure, and thus there will be a revolution. It did not happen, despite Prigogine’s attempted armed uprising last year, which some of us do not take seriously. Everything failed,” said the expert.
According to Koltashov, the West is now in a desperate situation and does not understand what to do when Russia has again resisted the pressure. “This is now creeping into the NATO Secretary General’s speeches Jens Stolterbang, Western politicians who directly say that Russia must be defeated. And if that doesn’t work, what will you do with your economy? They don’t have a plan here, because the plan is that we lose, and our financial resources fix all the flaws in their financial structure, and the West feels good again, especially the US and the UK. Here’s the calculation,” he explained.
Speaking about the cash dollar, the expert emphasized that the US sanctions did not affect it, and now the exchange rate completely depends on the policy of the Bank of Russia. “We still have a lot of dollars. The trade balance is positive, which is very important, and as a result we have income. But it is no longer possible to save in dollars, because the banks will take very large commissions, including in the form of the difference between the purchase and sale, the spread will gradually decrease, but it will still remain very large. And it should be taken into account that the dollar has depreciated fantastically in terms of gold in this century. At the beginning of the century, a troy ounce of gold was worth $280 in 2000, now it is $2,300 plus. In other words, the dollar does not actually provide a reserve. Real redundancy is backed by gold. Therefore, it is a big question for the Bank of Russia. when will they stop following the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund and our gold reserves will increase rapidly… the 20% threshold has not been crossed, but it should be a lot. more gold in the reserves of the Bank of Russia,” he thinks.
“The question of the exchange rate is a question of what policy the Bank of Russia will pursue. Let’s not forget that the Bank of Russia implemented a huge 90 percent devaluation of the ruble. This facilitated our foreign trade, but affected our prices. Therefore, the question is exclusively for the Bank of Russia, what line they will pursue under these conditions. Will they allow themselves to suppress the ruble like this again, or will they still listen to the voice of both citizens and businesses that we need a stable ruble? And all the huge changes – (Head of the Bank of Russia Elvira) Nabiulina I didn’t seem to notice them, I was talking about something there about some kind of inflation, what is going to fight it, it shouldn’t happen. This is a fundamental, basic issue at this moment,” concluded Koltashov.
Let’s remind that last week the USA announced new sanctions against Russia, including the Moscow Stock Exchange and the banking sector. The exchange stopped trading not only in dollars, but also in euros. central bank explained, which will now set the official exchange rates of American and European currencies on a different basis. It is believed that the Chinese yuan now will become The main currency in Russia and a point of reference for market participants.