Senior Biden Admin official: Actions will prevent Russia from using USD, EUR, GBP, JPY to defend its currency

A Senior Biden Administration official said on Monday that recent actions taken by the US and its allies to impose new restrictions on the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) will prevent the central bank from using its dollars, euros, pounds and yen to defend its currency. 

Additional remarks:

“US sanctions against Russia’s central bank were months in the planning… ‘we were ready'”.

“Putin’s war chest of $630bln in reserves only matters if he can use them and after today’s action that will no longer be possible.”

“We will continue to scope our measures to ensure steady supply of energy.”

“Our strategy is to make sure the Russian economy goes backwards as long as Putin continues with his Ukraine campaign.”

“Our relationships with allies… ‘trust and solidarity’ were important in taking collective action against Russia.”

“The Russian central bank has been attempting to bring assets to Russia and other safe havens since Saturday’s sanctions announcement.”

“Today’s action to prohibit transactions with the Russian central bank will hinder Russia’s ability to access hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“Coordinated action will cause weakening of the Russian currency and make financing more difficult.”

“We always saw Russia’s $630bln in reserves as an insurance policy, action today ‘removes that insurance policy’.”

“If Belarus continues to aid and abet Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, they will also face consequences.”

“Sanctions against the central bank were immediately effective and we wanted to put them in pace before US markets open.”

“Russian inflation is very likely to spike while purchasing power and investment are likely to plummet.”

“The US remains in close contact with the EU to finalize a list of Russian banks that will be cut off from SWIFT.”

“Actions by the US and its allies will prevent Russia from using its dollars, euros, pounds or yen to defend its currency.”

“We don’t want rising prices to benefit Putin given Russia’s role as leading energy supplier.”

“The US and its allies also have a collective interest to degrade Russia’s capacity to be a leading energy supplier over the long term.”