In the end, Russia repaid the two bonds in US dollars to avoid the risk of default. The country has paid a total of কোটি 850 million through Citibank’s London branch. News from the BBC.
“No one can call us defaulters anymore,” said Elvira Nabulina, head of Russia’s central bank, after the payment was made on Friday. However, we have had to go through a lot of difficulties in paying this way.
A U.S. official told the BBC that Russia had not been able to repay the bond, which had been suspended. Otherwise this money paid off.
Russia was due to pay off two bonds earlier this month. But due to the war with Ukraine, the country could not do that as most of its foreign exchange reserves were stuck. In that case, Russia offered to pay off the bonds in its own currency, the ruble. But the bond issuing companies rejected the offer.
Russia was in a 30-day grace period, which ended on May 4, after an initial failure to pay off bonds in dollars. If it did not pay its dues within the stipulated time, Russia would eventually become a defaulter. Once defaulted, the country would have trouble getting new loans and economic transactions. But before that could happen, Russia repaid the loan in dollars.
However, Russia’s risk will not end with the repayment of the loan taken against the two bonds. Because, Russia has to pay about 4 trillion US dollars in international bonds.
However, Russia is taking various initiatives to boost the economy. Russia has raised interest rates since the start of the war with Ukraine. However, the country cut interest rates by 3 percent last Friday to revive the economy.
