Over the past ten months, the Central Bank of Russia has already reduced the amount of gold in international reserves for the fourth time. In April, it became less than about 100 thousand ounces or about 2-3 tons, reports Interfax with reference to the regulator data.
As of May 1, the Russian reserves were 73.7 million ounces, in early April there were 73.8 million. Also about 100 thousand ounces (the Central Bank statistics do not give more accurate estimate) was spent in January 2021.
In July and September 2020, 10 thousand and 30 thousand ounces were sold from the gold reserve of Russia, respectively, so we can talk about the beginning of the trend. For the last time this situation was observed in 2007, since then the Central Bank has consistently scared metal.
Since 2008, Russia has grown gold reserves five times. In 2018, according to this parameter, the country bypassed China and went to the sixth place in the world, and in 2020 approached France. However, in the same year, the Central Bank announced that he suspends its purchase.
Meanwhile, as of mid-last year, gold received a dollar for the first time in the composition of the gold reserves of Russia. The share of the US currency was 22.2 percent, and gold – 22.9 percent. The main asset remained Euro – 29.5 percent.
At the end of March, the Ministry of Finance prepared a bill that allows spending the funds of the National Welfare Fund (FNB) to invest in gold.