INTERNATIONAL: The measures are among the latest sanctions introduced following the invasion of Ukraine.Russia has taken a series of countermeasures to deal with the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, including introducing temporary economic measures and raising interest rates.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree introducing temporary economic measures to ensure the country's financial stability, the Kremlin has announced on Tuesday.
Among the measures, Russia will ban the outflow of foreign currencies in an amount exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 U.S. dollars that has stated on Wednesday.
Effective since Wednesday, restrictions regarding transactions of securities, real estate and loans will be imposed on foreigners associated with countries that have taken anti-Russian actions.
On Monday, Putin also inked a decree introducing "special economic measures" to cushion the impact of a new wave of Western sanctions.
Russia's financial system has wobbled on Monday after a coalition of Western nations have issued a joint statement on Saturday saying they would remove some Russian banks from SWIFT, the payment system used for most international financial transactions, in response to Moscow's ongoing military operations in Ukraine.
In the face of its toughest sanctions to date, the ruble fell to an all-time low against the dollar, falling as low as 110 on Monday morning before recovering below $100 USD during a volatile trading session.
In response, the Russian central bank on Monday has raised its key interest rate from 9.5 percent to 20 percent. Exporters are also being asked to sell 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings in foreign trade.
The Russian stock market suspended trading and residents are banned from transferring foreign currency to their accounts or deposits to foreign banks.
The Russian central bank has said the emergency measures are meant to provide additional stability and to protect savings from devaluation.
Life in Moscow has started showing signs of change. In some shopping malls, people can be seen queuing at ATMs to withdraw cash, but some experts have said the life of most people in Russia will not be affected much by the economic sanctions.
"A majority of the Russian population purchases goods in the Russian market and they will not experience any significant threats to their standard of living and quality," said Dmitry Orlov, head of the Agency of Political and Economic Communications.
