Capital flight from Russia drops nearly 10% in first six months of year

The net capital outflow from the Russian Federation in January-June this year totaled $28.2 billion, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) reported on Friday.

This is a 9.6% decrease compared to last year, according to the regulator. At the end of the first half of 2020, the indicator stood at $31.2 billion.

The CBR explained that “investments of other sectors in foreign assets with a slight decrease in external liabilities” contributed to the change.

At the same time, the central bank added that, with regard to the dynamics of capital outflow in 2020, there was also a noticeable “decrease in banks’ external liabilities.” In 2020, net capital outflow from Russia by the private sector increased 2.2 times compared to 2019 and amounted to $47.8 billion.

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The CBR also said Russia’s positive foreign trade balance increased by 24.8% in the last six months compared to the same period last year and amounted to $62.4 billion.

At the end of the reporting period of 2020, the country’s foreign trade surplus stood at $50 billion.Russia’s trade surplus for 2020 totaled $89.4 billion, which was 45.9% less than in 2019.

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