Russia shuts down stock exchange amid mounting sanctions

Russia's central bank shut down the country's stock exchange for the week due to mounting sanctions imposed by other nations over Russian President Vladmir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Bank of Russia announced on Monday that the Moscow Exchange would not open some sections of the market in light of the current situation, before sending a second alert saying trading would be completely suspended until March 5.

The decision comes as the central bank struggles to mitigate the steep, coordinated economic sanctions imposed by several other countries, including the U.S., and as the ruble hit a new record low against the dollar.

On Monday, the Bank of Russia said it would resume buying gold and raised its key interest rate to 20%, up from 9.5%, in an effort to fight the depreciation of the ruble and higher inflation.

NATO allies and other nations have taken action to inflict economic pain on Russia as Putin continues his bloody assault on Ukraine. The Bank of Russia has been targeted by the European Union with sanctions from the Biden administration as a result of the removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT international banking network.

A senior White House official told FOX Business on Monday that our strategy is to make sure that the Russian economy goes back as long as President Putin decides to go forward with his campaign.