MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will extend capital controls on cash withdrawals of foreign currency and transfers abroad, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday, amid continued pressure on the economy.
Russia introduced strict controls on currency operations last year in response to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, limiting Russian residents from transferring money abroad.
Nabiullina, speaking at a banking forum near Moscow, said that while many of these restrictions had been lifted or eased, current economic conditions meant that they would remain in place.
“Deadlines for restrictions like limits on withdrawing cash currency from bank accounts, money transfers abroad, and restrictions on withdrawals by non-residents from ‘unfriendly’ countries are approaching,” she said.
“All of them will be extended.”
She also warned of possible “systemic risks” in the banking sector as lenders scramble to make up for a slump in profits recorded last year, but played down the effect of the latest round of Western sanctions on the banking sector.
“The recent addition of new banks to the sanctions lists is no longer perceived as a shock and does not create systemic risks,” she said.
The United States and Britain last week added several Russian banks to their sanctions lists, while the European Union cut off more banks from the SWIFT global payments system, among them online lender Tinkoff and the private Alfa Bank.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Caleb Davis and Jake Cordell; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
