Russia has stopped publishing public debt data, trade statistics, and limited the amount of financial information to hide the negative impact of sanctions imposed by the West in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The authorities of the Russian Federation in recent days have ceased to publish information on public debt, imports and exports, as well as information on oil production. Also, as noted by the WSJ, the amount of financial data that Russian banks must publish regularly is limited by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation..

In addition, a draft law is being developed in the Russian Federation that may prohibit creditors from exchanging data with foreign countries.. This is likely part of the Kremlin's efforts to protect the economy and companies from further Western sanctions..

Limited economic data means the US and EU will be less aware of how sanctions are affecting the Russian economy. This could make it harder to find new targets for future lockdown packages..

“We have bans on Russian media, now the same applies to access to statistics. The Iron Curtain is rising from both sides,” said Elina Rybakova, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute of International Finance of the Russian Federation..

Sanctions have cut Russia off from much of the Western financial infrastructure. Economists predict deep recession coupled with sharp inflation. Unemployment in Russia is growing against the backdrop of the exit of Western companies.

Last week, the division of the Russian Ministry of Energy, which publishes monthly data on oil production and exports, announced the restriction of "

It is reported that the distribution of monthly data on oil production, as well as data on the shipment of fuel oil from Russian refineries and gas processing plants to the domestic and export markets, has ceased for an indefinite period..

At the same time, the Russian government still publishes data on inflation and GDP, but the information is presented in an abbreviated form..

In particular, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation suspended the publication of the external debt payment schedule. External debt repayments have become a tricky issue as Russia teeters on the brink of default on its international bonds.

In addition, most of the Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves fell under sanctions, so Russia is now unable to make some payments in dollars..

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Earlier it was reported that the EU is working on a new package of sanctions against the Russian Federation.. The sixth package of European Union sanctions against Russia will be aimed at banks, including Sberbank and oil, said the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.