The country’s Treasury Department said in a statement that it had made a $ 565 million Eurobond that expired this year, as well as an $ 84 million Eurobond due to expire in 2024. Both payments were made in US dollars, the Treasury Department said, as required. from the terms of the bond contract. “Payments were made in the currency of the respective Eurobonds – in US dollars,” the Russian Finance Ministry said in a statement. “In this way, the service obligations of government Eurobonds are performed in compliance with the conditions set out in the issuance documentation.” On April 6, Russia said it had made payments for these bonds in rubles, prompting S&P to declare three days later that Russia was defaulting on its foreign debt. Although payments in dollars have already been delayed, Russia’s late payment in dollars serves as a last resort to avoid bankruptcy. Bond payments are usually accompanied by a 30-day grace period. For these bond payments, this grace period expires on May 4, so it is likely that S&P will change its mind. S&P could not be reached for comment on whether it would reverse its claim that Russia had defaulted. Russia has the money to pay its debts. It simply cannot access half of those funds after the West imposed unprecedented sanctions on its foreign exchange reserves totaling about $ 315 billion. But Russia has apparently found a way to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in debt without having access to its frozen reserves. A US Treasury official said the payment must have come from a new stack of money because it does not lift restrictions on the dollars imposed by Russia, according to Reuters. The news sent the Russian ruble, which has been jumping for two months, to a two-year high against the US dollar. A dollar could buy about 68 rubles on Friday, less than half the amount it could buy in early March. At its peak on March 7, the ruble was trading at $ 135. Russia has been able to support the ruble despite global sanctions by raising interest rates, preventing Russian stockbrokers from selling foreign-held securities and demanding payment for gas and oil deliveries in rubles, among other actions. These measures have allowed Moscow to artificially create demand for the ruble, even though the country’s economy remains in recession. Since then, the country has been able to curb its dramatic interest rate hikes, including another surprise interest rate cut on Friday. – CNN’s Clare Sebastian contributed to this report.
