Русский
The Russian Central Bank has announced that the value of Russia’s gold holdings has surpassed US$200 billion for the first time, while bullion’s share in the country’s international reserves increased to 32.9%.
Russia increased the value of its gold holdings by almost 4% last month, breaking the record set in the previous September. In the reverse direction, Russian reserves of the US Dollar and Euro are at historic lows. Central banks often turn to gold when there are predictions of currency turbulence ahead.
The dollar value of the reserves reached US$207.7 billion as of November 1. The gold price rose by about 4% in October after reaching a record high of US$2,800 per ounce during the month. Gold prices have been fluctuating lately amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The Central Bank also said the country’s international reserves stood at US$631.6 billion as of November 1.
Nearly half of Russia’s international sovereign reserves held in Western financial institutions were frozen in the West in early 2022 as part of Ukraine-related sanctions. The Bank of Russia has not provided a detailed breakdown of what was immobilized. However, it is known that the portion of Russia’s reserves that was not frozen consists of gold and foreign currency held mostly within the European Union, as well as holdings of Chinese RMB Yuan. The interest earned on these holdings has been passed to Ukrainian President Zelensky, who has also asked for the full frozen amount to be transferred to Ukraine.
However, Russia also holds significant European reserves in Russia, estimated to be worth a similar amount. Should the EU take Russian funds in Europe, Moscow would possibly react in kind.
Elvira Nabiullina , the Governor of the Bank of Russia, has said that Russia’s financial stability would not be affected if the West seizes its assets. The Bank has been diversifying its forex reserves for several years and is currently conducting operations with reserves that are not affected by sanctions.
Russia has the world’s fifth-largest gold reserves after the United States, Germany, Italy and France. However, it is also the world’s third-largest producer and is adding gold bullion at a rate of about 310 tonnes per annum. At that rate, Russia will hold the world’s second-largest reserves by 2030.
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