Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Russia has defaulted on its foreign debts payment for the first time in years as its economy bleeds from the sanctions imposed by western nations in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow faced a Sunday deadline to pay off the interest worth about $100 million, originally due on 27 May, and meet a 30-day grace period. However the term expired without payment.
It is Russia’s latest economic collapse on the debt-front following a default on its domestic debts in 1998 and and after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution where Moscow failed to pay off its international debts.
Russia owes about $40 bn in foreign bonds. Russian officials denied the reports of a default, however. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Thursday said that “anyone can declare whatever they like. But anyone who understands what’s going on knows that this is in no way a default,” reported Bloomberg.
The Kremlin also rejected the claims on Monday. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia made bond payments due in May but the fact they had been blocked by Euroclear because of Western sanctions on Russia was “not our problem”.
Rating agencies monitoring the situation, like Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, have already categorised the country’s debt into junk territory.
The rumblings in the Russian market continued elsewehere as the Ruble, which plummeted to a historic low just hours after the invasion, was recorded down by about 40 per cent against the dollar on Monday.
For more than 120 days now, Russia’s central bank’s foreign reserves have remained frozen and its top banks excluded from the global financial system.
Sanctions imposed by Ukraine’s allies have damaged the Russian economy and pushed foreign companies to exit the Russian market. Experts warn that the confirmation of default could lead to further isolation and disruption of Moscow from the international payment system.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments