Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, as sweeping sanctions over its war in Ukraine effectively cut the country off from the global financial system and rendered its assets untouchable to many investors, reports Reuters.
Russia faced a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments originally due May 27. Some bondholders said they had not received the overdue interest on Monday following the expiry of the key payment deadline.
The Kremlin, which has the money to make payments thanks to oil and gas revenues, swiftly rejected the claims, and has accused the West of driving it into an artificial default.
The U.S. Treasury Department ended Russia’s ability to pay its billions in debt back to international investors through U.S. banks earlier this year. A Treasury Department spokesperson told Reuters at the time that the action was meant to force Russia to draw down its domestic dollar reserves to further curtail its spending on its war against Ukraine.
Russia says any default is artificial because it has the money to pay its debts but sanctions have frozen its foreign currency reserves held abroad……..
Read More: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-defaults-foreign-debt-ukraine-war-sanctions-rcna35420