The United States has imposed new sanctions on the Central Bank of Russia, Russian National Wealth Fund, and the Ministry of Finance, USA Today reports.

The sanctions effectively cut off the Central Bank of Russia from access to assets held in the United States or U.S. dollars.

They prohibit foreign financial firms from sending dollars to the Central Bank of Russia, Russian National Wealth Fund, and the Ministry of Finance.

An administration official said the U.S. wanted to impose sanctions before markets opened Monday after learning over the weekend from allies that the Central Bank of Russia had tried to withdraw assets from institutions around the world since Monday morning.

The announcement came after Russia's central bank sharply raised its key lending rate from 9.5 percent to 20 percent in an attempt to shore up the sharply falling ruble.