No Alternative
The Dollar’s Importance for Russia's Banks
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Russia’s economy relies heavily on the use of the US dollar. Massive financial sanctions would hit them hard. If the US-based dollar correspondent accounts of systemically important Russian banks were to be frozen, these banks would not only lose their assets on deposit there. They would also no longer be able to settle their customers’ foreign trade transactions denominated in dollars or service their customers’ dollar accounts within Russia. This vulnerability can only be reduced in the long term. Short-term evasive maneuvers promise little success.
(Osteuropa, 10-12/2021, pp. 235–242)