A vendor counts Russian rouble banknotes at a market in Moscow, March 3, 2014. (XINHUA/REUTERS)

MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia's foreign debt amounted to 529.1 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2018, an increase of 2.9 percent or 15 billion U.S. dollars compared with the beginning of last year, the Russian central bank said Friday.

The growth of the foreign debt was caused by acquisition by foreign investors of sovereign debt securities denominated in Russian rubles, and attraction by Russian companies of debt financing from foreign affiliates, the bank said in a statement.

The foreign debt of Russian banks fell to the lowest level in the past ten years, it added.

According to statistical data, total foreign debt payments of non-financial institutions in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018 are expected to total 25 billion U.S. dollars and 28.6 billion U.S. dollars respectively, the central bank said.