Rio Tinto plc – Annual report – 31 December 2019
Industry: mining
21 Cash and cash equivalents
Restricted cash and cash equivalent analysis
Cash and cash equivalents of US$315 million (2018: US$186 million) are held in countries where there are restrictions on remittances. Of this balance, US$245 million (2018: US$142 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.
There are also restrictions on a further US$1,644 million (2018: US$1,090 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$1,442 million (2018: US$864 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.