Russians’ demand for gold has increased tenfold, and the U.S. Ministry of Finance has postponed default: payments in dollars on Russia’s debt are possible until May 24 – these and other important news for Thursday morning, March 17. in our daily review.

U.S. restrictions on transactions with the Russian Central Bank and other banks allow payments to service Russia’s sovereign debt to be made in dollars. Payments in dollars can be made until May 25, Bloomberg reported.

Analytical company S&P Global Mobility, formerly known as IHS Markit, lowered its baseline forecast of global passenger car production for 2022 and 2023 by 2.6 million, to 81.6 million and 88.5 million, respectively.

The Bank of Russia has issued a universal license to a new bank, Ecom Bank, controlled by Ozon, for the first time in three years, Kommersant reported.

International pharmaceutical companies refuse to conduct new clinical trials in Russia. This is reported by “Vedomosti” with reference to messages on the websites of Pfizer, Lilly, AbbVie and representatives of Sanofi and MSD.

Demand for gold after the abolition of VAT on the purchase of bullion has increased tenfold. Banks also register growth in the number of new unallocated metal accounts.