INVESTMENT CLIMATE

Bank of Russia’s gold

Russian Central Bank has increased its gold reserves to the maximum since November 2017. In August, Central Bank added to its assets 21 tons of gold and thus aggregated 2,170 tons of gold in total. As of August 1, the gold in the Central Bank’s ownership was worth over $77 bln.

Pavel Lisitsyn | RIAN

Such was Russia’s response to the sanctions tightened by the USA. To diversify financial risks on the eve of the new set of sanctions, Russia sold US bonds and started augmenting its gold reserves, thus once again confirming the centuries-old role of gold as a refuge metal.

The new sanctions are caused by the poisoning of a Russian former military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in the UK. The USA insists on Russian secret services’ involvement. The restrictions effective August 22, ban, among other things, exports to Russia of dual purpose items, electronics, oil and gas equipment.

Previous ArticleNext Article