As we detailed here first, during the months of April and May, as the Yuan-denominated oil futures were launched, trade war threats escalated, and sanctions were unleashed, Russia liquidated almost 90% of its US Treasury holdings. The question most had was simple – why? Speculation ran the gamut from this action being a dress-rehearsal – carefully coordinated with Beijing to field test what would happen if/when China also starts to liquidate its own Treasury holdings; to forced sales to cover liquidity needs on sanctioned Russian entities. But now we have an “insider’s” view on why Putin was puking his T-Bonds. How an Economy … Continue reading Russia Explains Why It Liquidated