The net outflow of capital from the Russian Federation in 2021 increased to $72 billion against $50.4 billion in 2020, according to the website of the Bank of Russia.

“The positive balance of financial transactions of the private sector amounted to $72 billion against $50.4 billion,” the report says.

With an almost neutral impact of bank operations, the acquisition of foreign assets by other sectors, mainly in the form of direct investment, played a decisive role, the regulator explained.

The international reserves of the Russian Federation for 2021 increased by $63.5 billion. The growth of the indicator was largely due to foreign exchange transactions carried out in the domestic foreign exchange market under the budget rule, as well as the distribution of SDR holdings in favor of the Russian Federation.

In turn, the surplus of the current account of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation, according to preliminary estimates of the Central Bank, reached a record high of $120.3 billion in 2021 against $36 billion in 2020, more than three times more than in 2020. The dynamics of the current account of the balance of payments was determined by a two-fold increase in the positive balance of trade to almost $185.9 billion as a result of a significant expansion of exports of goods under the influence of a favorable price environment with a significantly lower growth rate of imports, the Central Bank noted. At the end of 2020, the foreign trade surplus of the Russian Federation amounted to $93.7 billion.

Foreign investment

Foreign direct investment in Russian companies in 2021 amounted to $30.7 billion compared to $8 billion in 2020, according to data from the Bank of Russia. In annual terms, for the fourth quarter of 2021, foreign direct investment amounted to $3.3 billion.

According to the Central Bank, the outflow of portfolio investments by non-residents in the assets of the non-banking sector of the Russian Federation in 2021 amounted to $11.3 billion compared to $15.3 billion in 2020.