Russia has reduced the volume of investments in US government securities from $ 6.145 billion in January to $ 5.756 billion in February, follows from data on the website of the US Treasury, published on Thursday, April 15.
At the same time, the share of long-term bonds decreased almost nine times: from 2.7 billion to 306 million, the share of short-term bonds was $ 5.45 billion ($ 3.4 billion in January).
Japan remained the largest holder of US government securities in January ($ 1.25 trillion), followed by China, which had been in the lead for a long time ($ 1.1 trillion).
On April 15, US President Joe Biden signed a decree introducing new anti-Russian sanctions. The restrictions were applied to 32 legal entities and individuals from Russia. Also, Washington decided to expel 10 Russian diplomats from the country.
In addition, the US authorities have prohibited their companies from directly buying Russian debt securities issued by the Central Bank, the National Wealth Fund, or the Russian Ministry of Finance after June 14, 2021.
The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the restrictions, said that Moscow condemns any sanctions aspirations, considering them illegal, and will act on the basis of the principle of reciprocity to ensure national interests.