Canada prohibits Russian Central Bank transactions, ruble plummets

Canada prohibits Russian Central Bank transactions, ruble plummets
CHEK
A Russian ruble coin is pictured in front of St. Basil cathedral in central Moscow in 2014. The ruble sank more than 30 per cent against the U.S. dollar early Monday. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Russian ruble plunged to its lowest level on record on Monday after Western nations, including Canada, moved to try and freeze the country out of the global financial system.

The system comes following a decision by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to invade Ukraine.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also announced on Monday that Canada would be imposing an asset freeze and a dealing prohibition on Russian sovereign wealth funds.

“Canada and its allies continue to take concerted action to ensure that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be a strategic failure,” said Freeland in a statement on Monday. “This has never been done before at this scale. Today, we are taking a historic step by directly censuring Russia’s central bank.”

In a tweet sent out by the Prime Minister on Monday, Trudeau said that this move will eliminate Russia’s ability to deploy international currency reserves “further restricting Putin’s ability to finance his war of choice.”

 

The ruble had plummeted more than 30 per cent after the move to block Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment system over the weekend, which provides a secure messaging system to facilitate cross-border money transfers.

Canada also announced on Sunday that it would be sending an additional $25-million of non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including things such as helmets, body armour, night-vision goggles and gas masks.

The country has also imposed personal sanctions against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in response to his continued invasion of Ukraine.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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