Central Bank and Vladimir Tikhomirov

Western governments: Moscow sold a total of $45 billion of U.S. treasury bonds in 2014 as relations with Western governments reached a post-Soviet nadir over the Ukraine crisis, according to The Moscow Times. Russian officials have said that they will wind down holdings of U.S. securities and reinvest the money in emerging market economies. "The Central Bank needed cash," said Vladimir Tikhomirov, chief economist BCS Financial Group in Moscow. "Treasuries are one of the most liquid holdings you can have." Needed at Home December was the peak of Russia currency crisis as a falling oil price and Western sanctions drove the ruble sharply lower and endangered the country already shaky financial stability. The sale means that Russia currently holds just $86 billion of U.S. government debt, the lowest level since 2008, according to figures released late Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Central Bank said in October that it would make about $50 billion available through 2016 to banks via short-term loans in an effort to ease foreign exchange shortages. Russian government has also been hunting for cash as it looks to inject financing into the economy to ease the damage done by an emerging recession, which some experts estimate could see a contraction of 4 percent of gross domestic product in 2015. "Money was invested in projects in the real sector and in support of the banking sector," said Oleg Buklemishev, director of Moscow State University Political Economy Research Center. About $30 billion of this has already been lent, according to Tikhomirov, with the money possibly coming from the sale of the easily accessed U.S. treasury bonds. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.