Rio Tinto plc – Annual report – 31 December 2018
Industry: mining
21 Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents of US$186 million (2017: US$290 million) are held in countries where there are restrictions on remittances. Of this balance, US$142 million (2017: US$158 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.
There are also restrictions on a further US$1,090 million (2017: US$1,089 million) of cash and cash equivalents, the majority of which is held by partially owned subsidiaries and is not available for use in the wider Group due to legal and contractual restrictions currently in place. Of this balance US$864 million (2017: US$703 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.
