Page 46 - RusRPTApr19

5.2.3 Capital flight dynamics
The outflow of capital from Russia since the beginning of the year has doubled compared with January - February 2018, follows from the data on the Central Bank website. According to preliminary estimates, in January-February of this year, the true export of capital by the private sector from Russia amounted to $18.6bn, which is 2.1 times more than the same indicator last year ($8.7bn).
“The balance of private sector financial operations in January-February 2019 was formed mainly due to an increase in net financial assets,” notes the Central Bank. International reserves of Russia due to the resumption of purchases of foreign currency in the domestic market within the framework of the budget rule increased by $6.1bn.
At the end of 2018, the net outflow of private sector capital from Russia increased by 2.7 times compared with the previous year and reached $67.5bn. According to the Central Bank, in 2018 there was a reduction in external
46 RUSSIA Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com