… Russian central bank curbs trade with foreign currency***

U.S President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that the United States would no longer allow for the importation of Russian oil, the latest sanction to punish Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Biden who announced the sanction from the White House said Russian oil would no longer be accepted at U.S. ports.

The oil embargo, Biden said, would target the main artery of Russia’s economy.

“The ban on Russian oil and gas has strong bipartisan support in the Congress and in the country.

“Americans have rallied to support the people of Ukraine and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.

“This decision today is not without costs here at home.

Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the pump — and this will drive up costs further.

“So, I will take every step we can to minimise Putin’s price hike here at home,’’ he said.

The U.S. leader said in coordination with our partners, we had already announced a collective release of 60 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserves— half of that from the United States.

“We’re taking steps to ensure a reliable supply of global energy.

And we’re going to keep working with every tool at our disposal to protect American families and businesses.

“Let me say to the oil and gas companies and finance firms that back them: We understand that Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine is causing prices to rise.

“But that is no excuse for excess price increases, or padding profits, or any kind of effort to exploit this situation,’’ he said.

In the meantime, the Russian central bank has issued fresh guidelines to curb trade with foreign currency in the wake of Western sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It said that Russian banks will no longer be able to sell foreign cash to citizens, the Bank of Russia said.

The package of measures which takes force Wednesday is to remain in effect for six months.

However, cash may only be withdrawn in foreign currency from a foreign exchange account up to an amount of 10,000 dollars.

For higher amounts, the rest is to be paid out in roubles at the daily exchange rate.

There are no restrictions on exchanging foreign currencies for roubles.

Meanwhile, sanctions imposed over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have caused the rouble to plummet and made it harder for Russia to access foreign currencies.

In addition, the Russian central bank’s reserves totaling more than 600 billion dollars were effectively blocked.