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Financial sanctions against Russia have 'backfired dramatically' - Matthew Piepenburg

Michael McCrae

Kitco News

(Kitco News) - The financial sanctions imposed against Russia after the country started its war in Ukraine have ended up doing more harm to Western nations, said Matthew Piepenburg, principal at Matterhorn Asset Management.

In May Piepenburg spoke to Kitco at the Deutsche Goldmesse conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

"The financial sanctions have backfired dramatically for Western nations and the Western economies, the US dollar in particular," said Piepenburg.

In March Russia invaded Ukraine. Financial sanctions imposed on Russia included cutting off some Russian banks from SWIFT, a global payment network for financial institutions. Russia's FX reserves were also frozen.

"That was good headlines good chest puffing, a good kind of political virtue signaling...but when you weaponize the US dollar in that way the genie can't be put back in the bottle."

Piepenburg said the the consequence has been to make the US dollar look less neutral and more biased. Countries outside the West are going to seek other financial alternatives, so they are not exposed to similar risks.

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By Michael McCrae

For Kitco News

Contact mmccrae@kitco.com
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