The most interesting news story is burried in the news flow...
Putin - Getty Images
Russian appears to have dodged its first foreign debt default in a century after the Kremlin tapped
domestic dollar reserves in a humiliating U-turn for Vladimir Putin.
Investors have begun to receive overdue payments on two bonds, Bloomberg reports.
Russia had initially attempted to
make the payments with roubles instead of dollars, a move that was blocked by the US Treasury.
The White House is likely to hail the move as a victory for sanctions, as it forced the
Kremlin to erode its domestic cash stockpiles, raising the cost of imports.
The deadline for Russia to make the coupon payments, totalling $650m over two bonds, is
tomorrow, when a 30-day grace period ends.
Failure to make the payments would tip Russia into international default for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution.
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Maybe 100 pages ago I made the outlandish prediction that the war would end on May 8th.
This move by Mother Russia keeps us to that time table.. they will not be able to tap much $ reserves after this... So why did they do it?
Maybe because they know they are wrapping up the war.