U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that sanctions imposing a total ban on Russian oil exports are likely to result in a “boom” in global prices, which would hurt the United States. and its democratic allies.
Yellen told the US House Financial Services Committee that she expects oil companies in the United States and elsewhere to be able to ramp up production in the next six months, lured by higher prices, which could allow for tougher restrictions on Russian oil.
Biden wants Russia out of G20, may boycott meetings
Yellen also said that President Joe Biden wants Russia expelled from the Group of 20 Major Economies forum and that the United States will not participate in “various G20 meetings” if Russian officials attend.
His comments to a US House Financial Services Committee hearing raised questions about the future of the G20, which has been the premier global economic and political forum since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
But Yellen stated that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities revealed following the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha “represent an unacceptable affront to the rules-based international order”.
She said it was unlikely that Russia could be expelled from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the Biden administration wanted to prevent the country from actively participating in such international institutions.
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will meet face-to-face and virtually in Washington in April, when spring (Northern Hemisphere) IMF and World Bank meetings also take place.
Indonesia holds the G20 presidency this year and plans to host a finance meeting in July and a leaders’ summit in November.
“President Biden has made it clear, and I certainly agree with him, that it cannot be (a situation) normal for Russia in any of the financial institutions,” Yellen he said. “He called for Russia to be removed from the G20, and I have made it clear to my colleagues in Indonesia that we will not attend several meetings if the Russians are present,” he said.
The comments came on the heels of the Biden administration’s announcement of a new round of measures against Russian banks and elite players, which include banning Americans from investing in Russia and blocking Sberbank, the country’s biggest creditor and holder of a third. of their bank deposits, of the US financial system.
But transactions that allow European allies to buy Russian oil and natural gas were exempted from the ban through special Treasury permits.
Yellen said the flexibility in Russian energy transactions is due to the fact that many European countries “remain heavily dependent on Russian natural gas as well as oil, and are committed to transitioning away from that dependence as soon as possible.”
Yellen also issued a warning to China that the Treasury is prepared to use its sanctions tools against Beijing in the event of Chinese aggression against Taiwan, which China claims is a rebellious province.
Asked whether the United States would take such measures if Taiwan were threatened, she said: “Absolutely. I believe we’ve shown that we can. In the case of Russia, we threaten significant consequences. We imposed significant consequences. And I think you shouldn’t doubt our ability and determination to do the same in other situations.”
The ruble’s near-complete recovery in recent weeks is not a sign that the Russian economy is resisting the sanctions Washington and its allies have imposed since Russia invaded Ukraine, the secretary said.
The Russian economy is “staggering” because of sanctions imposed after the late February invasion, he said. Yellen to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
The ruble market has become so distorted by the actions of the Russian government and its central bank to limit capital outflows that “you should not infer anything” from the value of the ruble, which fell to a record low against the dollar immediately after the invasion, but has since recouped most of those losses.
Source: CNN Brasil
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