Russia’s Bond Buyback in Rubles Aims at Ensuring Locals Get Paid
- Ministry doesn’t say how much of the debt it plans to buy
- Russia continues to service debts despite sanctions hurdles
The Ministry of Finance in Moscow.
Source: Bloomberg
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Russia has offered to buy back dollar debt maturing next week and pay in rubles -- a tactic aimed at reducing the hurdles for local holders to receive funds, while also curbing the overall amount of foreign currency the government has to pay out.
The Finance Ministry is collecting bids from 4 p.m. in Moscow on March 29 to 5 p.m. on March 30, according to a statement. It offered to repurchase the bonds, which mature on April 4, at 100% of par value using the official central bank ruble rate on March 31, it said. The statement didn’t indicate how much of the $2 billion eurobond it could repurchase.