Rio Tinto plc – Annual report – 31 December 2020
Industry: mining
20 Cash and cash equivalents
(a) We continue to diversify the financial products we invest our surplus cash in. During the year, we purchased securities under resale agreements (“reverse repurchase agreements”). At 31 December 2020 we held US$1,200 million of reverse repurchase agreements, measured at amortised cost and reported within cash and cash equivalents as they are highly liquid products maturing within three months. We accepted collateral of investment grade quality in respect of these reverse repurchase agreements, with a fair value of US$1,260 million as at 31 December 2020. Collateral is not recognised on our balance sheet and in the event of counterparty’s default we would be able to sell it.
Restricted cash and cash equivalent analysis
Cash and cash equivalents of US$295 million (2019: US$315 million) are held in countries where there are restrictions on remittances. Of this balance, US$238 million (2019: US$245 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.
There are also restrictions on a further US$1,422 million (2019: US$1,644 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$1,215 million (2019: US$1,442 million) could be used to repay subsidiaries’ third-party borrowings.
