Norges Bank says wealth fund's Russia exit to occur over time

[OSLO] Norway's US$1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund has removed Russia from its benchmark index and will sell all of its investments in the country over time, the central bank said.

Norges Bank will return with a recommendation on lifting a freeze on the fund's investments in Russia once markets are functioning more normally, it said in a letter on its website.

"Owing to closed markets and extensive sanctions, it is not possible to commence the sale at present," Governor Ida Wolden Bache and Norges Bank Investment Management chief executive officer Nicolai Tangen said in the letter addressed to the Finance Ministry.

Norway decided on Feb 27 to drop Russian assets from the fund in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. The Oslo-based fund is the world's biggest owner of publicly traded companies with a portfolio of more than 9,000 stocks. BLOOMBERG