Soaring energy prices help Russia push its current account surplus to a record $70.1 billion in the second quarter despite sanctions

• Russia's current account surplus hit a record $70.1 billion in the second quarter of 2022, central bank data shows.
• Exports dipped, but imports saw a steeper decline during the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2022, Russia's current account surplus hit $70.1 billion, its highest mark since at least 1994, according to Russian central bank data released Monday.

Exports dipped to $153.1 billion from $166.4 billion in the first quarter, but imports saw a steeper decline, falling to $72.3 billion from $88.7 billion. For the first six months of the year, the current account surplus has reached $138.5 billion, the central bank said.

Soaring energy prices and commodity exports propped up Moscow's finances even as Western nations imposed sanctions amid the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, imports are down as the US and its allies moved to isolate the Russian economy from the global financial network.

"A ballooning trade surplus says a lot about what's going right for Russia, from high commodity prices to sustained demand from many export partners," economist Scott Johnson told Bloomberg. "But it's also a symptom of distress, with a plunge in imports sowing disruption throughout the economy."

In May, the IEA said the Kremlin was earning roughly $20 billion per month in oil sales as high crude prices lifted export revenues by 50%.

Meanwhile, Russia's stringent capital controls have turned the ruble into the top performing currency against the dollar this year, even though it had plunged to less than a penny at the start of the war in Ukraine.