Russia’s gold & foreign currency reserves surge by $1 BILLION in one week

After three consecutive weeks of growth, Russian forex holdings have reached a total of $591.8 billion, according to the latest data released by the country’s central bank.

The international funds increased by $1 billion in just one week from August 21 to August 28. According to the regulator, growth was driven by a “positive revaluation” that was partly alleviated by foreign currency sales on the domestic market. 

Since the start of the year, Russia’s gold and foreign currency reserves rose by nearly $36 billion despite the negative impact of Covid-19 on the country’s economy. 

The state's international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets comprising stocks of monetary gold, foreign currencies and Special Drawing Right (SDR) assets, which are at the disposal of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the government. Several years ago, the regulator set the target level for forex holdings at $500 billion which was finally reached in June 2019. 

The recent record rally in gold prices drove Russia’s international holdings to all-time highs earlier this month, when they surpassed the $600-billion level. The previous record of $598.1 billion was reached in August 2008, right before the global financial crisis hit.

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