Russia's gold reserves exceed $200 bln for the first time

By November, Russia's gold reserves exceeded $200 bln for the first time in the country's history, Izvestia has found out. At the same time, in physical terms, the volume of Russia's reserves in gold has remained virtually unchanged since the beginning of the year - it amounts to 75 million troy ounces (or 2.33 billion tons).

The data of the Bank of Russia reflects the growth of monetary gold value, noted Nikolay Dudchenko, analyst of FG Finam. According to him, for a month to the beginning of November it rose in price by 4%, to $ 2744 per troy ounce - the reserves of the Russian Federation in monetary gold for the same period increased by a comparable amount.

International reserves consist not only of gold, but also of foreign currency assets - euros, dollars and yuan. Their size since the beginning of the year increased by 5% and reached $631 billion, follows from the data of the Central Bank. The share of gold in them has risen to a third, although in early 2024 it only slightly exceeded a quarter. In terms of all gold reserves, Russia also ranks fifth, according to the data of the World Gold Council at the end of the second quarter. In this rating our country is overtaken by China, Japan, the United States and India.

The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves are a kind of "safety cushion" for the state. It is built up in times favorable for the economy and spent in a crisis. International reserves help insure the risks of budget deficit and failure to fulfill social obligations, especially in conditions of economic difficulties, force majeure, sanctions or increased spending, said Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov. They are also used to stabilize the exchange rate and to stimulate the economy.

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Additional ounces: the Russian Federation's reserves in gold exceeded a record $200 billion