International (gold and foreign exchange) reserves of Russia
International reserves are highly liquid financial assets held by the Bank of Russia and the Government of the Russian Federation. They consist of assets in foreign currency, monetary gold, special drawing rights (SDR), a reserve position in the IMF and other reserve assets.
Main article: Russian economy
Gold reserves
Main article: Gold reserves of Russia
2023
Russia climbed to sixth place in the ranking of foreign exchange reserves for the first time
According to the results of 2023, Russia's foreign exchange reserves amounted to $442.5 billion. As a result, according to this indicator, the Russian Federation for the first time rose to sixth place in the world ranking, ahead of Saudi Arabia. Such figures are given in a study by the World Gold Council, the results of which were published on February 2, 2024.
In first place in the ranking is China with foreign exchange reserves in the amount of $3.3 trillion. This is followed by Japan with $1.2 trillion, and Switzerland closes the top three with $755.9 billion. The fourth and fifth lines went to India and Taiwan with $574.9 billion and $564 billion, respectively. In addition, the top ten included Saudi Arabia ($439.1 billion), Hong Kong ($415.6 billion), South Korea ($408.1 billion) and Brazil ($346.4 billion).
According to the Izvestia newspaper, referring to the statements of Anna Tanasova, an expert at the Institute of power and Finance, Russia was able to overtake Saudi Arabia, including as a result of changes in approaches to the placement of the Arab country's foreign exchange reserves: they began to be sent more to national development funds. Because of this, Saudi Arabia's foreign exchange reserves in 2023 reached their lowest levels since 2009.
In general, in all reserves (not only foreign exchange, but also gold), Russia in 2023 is also in sixth place with an indicator of $598.4 billion. The international reserves of the Russian Federation increased from $582 billion as of January 1, 2023 to $598.6 billion as of January 1, 2024 - mainly due to an increase in the value of gold. According to World Gold Council estimates, Russia's exclusively gold reserves by the end of 2023 amount to about $155.9 billion. It is also noted that in the current geopolitical situation, the Russian Federation has the opportunity to replenish reserves at the expense of yuan, while dollars and euros are not used.[1][2]
The share of gold in the total volume of reserves of the Russian Federation for the year increased from 23% to 26%
The share of gold in the total volume of international reserves of the Russian Federation in 2023 increased to 26% from 23% a year earlier. Such data were released by the Central Bank of Russia on January 19, 2024.
According to Interfax, citing materials from the regulator, the volume of monetary gold reserves in Russia's international reserves at the beginning of 2024 reached 75 million ounces worth $155.9 billion. The agency notes that in physical terms, the volume of gold in the country remained at the level of 2022. In 2023, the Central Bank first reduced reserves by 0.1-0.2 million ounces, but by the fall it had again bought the missing volume, the newspaper adds.
RIA Novosti draws attention to the fact that the share of gold in the reserves of the Russian Federation turned out to be a record since March 2000, when the share of monetary gold in Russian international assets was 26.2%. The maximum share of gold was observed on January 1, 1993 - at the level of 56.9%, and the minimum - in June 2007, only 2.1%.
Russia's international reserves as of January 1, 2024 increased to $598.6 billion from $592.4 billion as of December 1, 2023. This was the maximum amount of reserves since March 2022.
International reserves are highly liquid assets and are at the disposal of the Central Bank and the Russian government. They consist of assets in foreign currency, monetary gold, as well as special borrowing rights, a reserve position in the IMF and other reserve assets.
In November 2023, the international reserves of the Russian Federation increased by $16.3 billion, in October - by $7.1 billion, in September there was a decrease of $12.6 billion, in August - by $8.3 billion after an increase in July by $7.5 billion. In June, the figure decreased by $1.8 billion, and in May, the reduction amounted to $11.6 billion, according to data from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for 2023.[3]
Russia became the first country where the Central Bank's gold and foreign exchange reserves were checked by the state
In mid-June 2023, information appeared that Russia became the first country where the state checked the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In global practice, 79% of audits of central banks in different countries are carried out by external auditors.
In 2022, the Bank of Russia abandoned the external audit and switched to inspections of the Accounts Chamber of Russia. As a result, as the chief auditor of the Central Bank of Russia Valery Goreglyad said, the Russian Federation became the first country in the world where state managers have already audited gold and foreign exchange reserves several times. Goreglyad added, moreover, they even conducted an audit of the monetary policy management system, which is the sanctuary of the regulator.
According to Goreglyad, the fact of conducting inspections by the Comptroller General and the Auditor General can be used to question the independence of the Central Bank of Russia, but there is no need to be scared here. As Mr. Goreglyad emphasizes, this does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The audits carried out by the Comptroller and the Auditor General are unusual. However, as of June 2023, the Accounts Chamber of Russia, according to him, is already conducting about 14 inspections of the Central Bank per year, and "hardly any other object was subject to such a volume of inspections"
According to the Central Bank of Russia, as of March 1, 2023, the total amount of reserves was $574.2 billion against $617.1 billion in 2022. Foreign currency assets as of March 1, 2023 accounted for $410 billion against $442.1 billion in 2022. The share of foreign currency in reserves decreased from 72.4% to 71.5%. The value of monetary gold increased from $141.2 billion to $135.56 billion, and the share - from 22.9% to 23.6%. The regulator did not disclose data on how much foreign securities, cash currency and deposits account for in reserves.[4]
Growth for the week by 10 billion to $592 billion
Russia's international reserves as of January 13, 2023 increased by $10 billion and amounted to $592 billion.
$582 billion, of which about $280 billion is frozen
The international reserves of the Russian Federation as of January 6, 2023 amounted to $582 billion against $577.5 billion as of December 30, 2022. Such data at the end of the reporting dates are provided on the Bank of Russia website.
Thus, Russian reserves in the first week of the year increased by $4.5 billion. The indicator increased by 0.8% to the previous value "under the influence of positive revaluation," the regulator said in a commentary. A week earlier, a decrease of $4.2 billion, or 0.7%, was recorded.
More than half of Russian reserves at this time were frozen due to sanctions (about $300 billion, according to the Central Bank). The head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina several times announced the intention of the Russian Federation to sue in connection with the blocking of Russian reserves and the preparation of relevant claims by the regulator.
The exact amount of Russia's sovereign assets frozen by EU countries as of June 2023 was 207 billion euros, said European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reinders.
Russia's sovereign assets, blocked under sanctions, are estimated at $280 billion, most of them in the EU, the US Treasury said in September 2023.
2022
China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia are the leaders in terms of reserves
Russia in 2022 ranked fourth in the world in gold and foreign exchange reserves. China's reserves amounted to $3.31 trillion, Japan took second place with savings of $1.27 trillion, Switzerland - third with assets of $924 billion. Russia finished the year in fourth place with $582 billion. India is fifth, its reserves reach $563 billion.
Reduction in reserves by $63.3 billion over 11 months
In January - November 2022, the international reserves of the Russian Federation decreased by $63.3 billion, which is almost twice the increase in the whole of 2021 (34.85 billion). In 2020, the international reserves of the Russian Federation added about $41.4 billion after an increase of 85.9 billion in 2019.
About 33.8 billion euros of Russian reserves blocked in the EU
After the outbreak of the conflict, he To Ukraine EU froze Russian assets for 68 billion euros, Politico reported in November 2022, citing an internal EC document. The bulk of the assets were frozen in (Belgium 50 billion euros) and (Luxembourg 5.5 billion euros). These countries, as well as,,, and GERMANY Ireland Italy Austria France account for more than 90% of frozen assets. At the same time, about 33.8 billion euros may fall on the national reserves of the Russian Federation, but the exact figure is not yet known.
Law on the right to classify information on gold and foreign exchange reserves
In July 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing to classify information on the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia.
$589 billion
"The international reserves of the Russian Federation as of May 27 amounted to $589.6 billion US dollars, having increased over the week by $6.2 billion US dollars, or 1.1%, as a result of a positive revaluation," the Central Bank of Russia said.
Central Bank of Russia classified the state of gold and foreign exchange reserves
On March 30, 2022, it became known that the Central Bank classified the state of Russia's foreign exchange reserves after Western sanctions.
Western countries block about $300 billion of Russian reserves after the start of a special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine
In February 2022, after the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Western countries froze about half, or about $300 billion, of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, Russian Finance Minister Siluanov said in March.
The West is pressuring China to restrict Russia's access to its yuan reserves.
Later, on May 25, 2022, it became known that out of 300 billion dollars , only less than one tenth is blocked in the EU country, according to information that the European Commission collected from 27 EU governments, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reinders said at a press conference.
He said about 23 billion euros had been frozen in the EU since Ukraine's military conflict began in February, a figure that is paltry compared to the $100 billion frozen by the United States.
In addition to that, Reinders said, EU countries have also frozen about 10 billion euros of non-financial assets such as yachts and villas linked to oligarchs and officials with ties to the Kremlin.
He declined to specify whether all EU governments had reported an asset freeze.
Many EU governments have traditionally been cautious when EU sanctions are fully enforced, and some have refused to publicly say whether they have frozen Russian assets.
Reserve structure: euro 33.9%, gold - 21.5%
The Bank of Russia in April 2022 cited the structure of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves at the beginning of the year. The big calculation was that assets in euros would not be frozen.
- EUR 33.9%
- gold 21.5%
- yuan 17.1%
- dollar 10.9%
- pound 6.2%
- yen 5.9%
- Canadian dollar 3.2%
- AUD 1%
- Singapore dollar 0.3%
Record reserves in the history of the country - $643 billion
As of February 18, 2022, a record volume of Russian reserves was recorded in history - $643.2 billion.
Growth of reserves in yuan
Having invested 17% of all foreign exchange reserves in the yuan, the Russian authorities by August 2021 found out that it would simply not be possible to withdraw funds from Chinese assets: the sale of yuan requires a separate agreement with China, and now, in a crisis, it will be quite difficult to get it. This is stated in the presentation of the Central Bank on the transfer of ZVR to "friendly" currencies.
2021
Ratio of reserves and external debt
Main article: Debt of Russia
Tens of billions of cash dollars imported into Russia due to expectations of tougher sanctions
Before the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the Central Bank imported tens of billions of cash dollars into Russia from reserves later seized, follows from the Central Bank's annual report published in March 2023. It claims that the regulator has been preparing for a scenario of tougher sanctions since 2014. In particular, reserves were translated into gold, Chinese yuan and cash currency.
Growth of reserves to a record $621 billion
The volume of Russia's international gold and foreign exchange reserves as of October 22, 2021 amounted to $621.6 billion, an increase of 0.2% over the week. Reserves again updated the historical maximum. The previous record was set on September 3 ($620.8 billion).
Growth to $600 billion. Euro share growth
International reserves of the Russian Federation from May 14 to May 21 increased by 1.2% and amounted to 600.9 billion, dollars updating the historical maximum - the Central Bank.
India moves Russia from 4th place in the world in terms of reserves
In March 2021, foreign exchange reserves India outperformed Russia and became the fourth largest in the world, as the country's central bank continues to accumulate dollars to protect the economy from any sudden outflows.
Indian foreign exchange assets fell 4.3 billion dollars to $580.3 billion as of March 5, the Reserve Bank of India said, but beat Russia's $580.1 billion.
China has the largest reserves, followed by Japan and Switzerland in the IMF table.
Reduction of reserves to $590 billion
As of February 1, 2021, Russia's international reserves amounted to $590 billion and over the month their volume decreased by $4.4 billion.
2020
Russia's international reserves reached an all-time high of $600.7 billion
On August 13, 2020, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced that Russia's international reserves reached an all-time high of $600.7 billion by August 7, an increase of $8.9 billion, or 1.5%, over the week. The regulator associated this increase with a positive exchange rate revaluation and an increase in prices at once.
The volume of Russia's international reserves was above $600 billion for the first time. The indicator approached this milestone on March 13, 2020, but a week later it decreased by almost $30 billion, after which it again switched to growth.
The international reserves of the Russian Federation for 2019 increased by 18.3% and as of January 1, 2020 amounted to $554.4 billion. A gradual increase in international reserves was observed in the last week of July, then they grew by 1.6%.
On August 7, 2020, the historical maximum that lasted 12 years was exceeded - on August 8, 2008, the volume of Russia's reserves was estimated at $598.1 billion.
Due to the rise in the price of precious metal for the first time in history, by the beginning of July 2020, the value of gold in Russia's international reserves exceeded $100 billion, about 18% of all reserves - over 2 thousand tons of yellow metal were accumulated in reserves. In July, gold in reserves gave an increase of $14 billion.
The Bank of Russia in April 2020 suspended the purchase of gold from Russian producers due to the pandemic. [5]
Reserve growth to $574.2 billion
International reserves of the Russian Federation as of July 10 amounted to $574.2 billion against $569.8 billion as of July 3 - the Central Bank.
Russia has only $3.85 billion in US government bonds
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation sold almost all investments in US government bonds. In March 2020, investments fell from $12.58 billion to $3.85 billion, according to the US Treasury.
Reserve growth to $569.7
The reserves of the Central Bank of Russia as of April 23, 2020 amounted to $569.7 billion against $564.9 billion a week earlier.
5% reduction in reserves for the week due to falling oil prices and the COVID-19 epidemic
The gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia for the week in mid-March 2020 fell by 5.1%, or almost $30 billion. This is an almost record reduction in the reserves of the Central Bank - a little more was only in 2008 (minus $30.6 billion) and 2009 (minus $30.3 billion).
2019
Structure of foreign exchange reserves. The share of yen doubled
The Bank of Russia's policy on managing gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2019 "raises questions." This is stated in the conclusion of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy on the annual report of the Central Bank.
At the end of 2019, the central bank sharply increased the share of Japanese assets in reserves. If at the beginning of the year there were 7.5% of ZVR, or $35.1 billion, then at the end - already 13.2%, or $73.4 billion.
The transfer of reserves to Japan became the largest operation of the Central Bank after an eccentric leap into the Chinese yuan in the spring of 2018: then the central bank invested $67.3 billion in the Chinese currency and since then has slowly increased investments, despite losses.
In 2019, the Central Bank doubled investments in Japanese assets, but there are no explanations in this regard in the annual report, according to the conclusion of the Duma committee.
$517.1 billion at mid-year (+ 10 %)
For the first time, Russia's international reserves reached a record volume since 2014 in April 2019 - $487.8 billion.
On June 30, 2019, the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves reached $517.1 billion (+ 10% since the beginning of the year)
Minimum investment in US public debt for 12 years
In May 2019, Russia reduced investments in the US national debt to a minimum from May 2007 - to $12.13 billion.
2018: Up to $453.644 billion
The international reserves of the Russian Federation as of March 1, 2018 increased to $453.644 billion from $447.735 billion as of February 1, the Bank of Russia said.
In February 2018, reserves increased by $5.9 billion, or 1.3%.
At the beginning of 2018, reserves amounted to $432.1 billion and increased in January by $15.6 billion. From January to February, reserves increased by $21.54 billion.
Central Bank plans to bring reserves to the target level of $500 billion[6]
2017: $431.6 billion incl. 17% in gold
The international reserves of the Russian Federation increased to $431.636 billion as of December 1, 2017 from $424.857 billion as of November 1, 2017, the Bank of Russia said. This is the maximum level since October 2014, after which reserves decreased.
In November, reserves grew by $6.8 billion, or 1.6%.
At the beginning of 2017, reserves amounted to $376.3 billion and increased by $55.3 billion by December 1.
The Central Bank can bring reserves to the target level of $500 billion for 1-1.5 years[7].
Since the beginning of 2017, the share of monetary gold in reserves has grown from 13.2% to 17.3%, and as of November 1, the regulator had more than 1,800 tons of the precious metal. Read more here.
2016: $382.4 billion
Since January 1, 2016, the international reserves of the Russian Federation have grown for a record seven weeks in a row until February 12, adding $14.4 billion to $382.4 billion.
2015: Cut to $368.0 billion (-4.5%)
In 2015, reserves decreased by 4.5%, or $17.46 billion, from $385.460 billion as of January 1, 2015 to $368.0 billion as of January 1, 2016.
2014: Cut from $510 billion to $385 billion
In the crisis of 2014, reserves decreased by $125 billion from $510.5 billion to $385.460 billion.
2009: $376 billion
During the 2008-2009 crisis, reserves decreased to $376 billion (March 2009).
2008: Record $598 billion
Russia Reserves reached a record high value in August 2008 - $598 billion.
1998: $17.7 billion
In 1998, Russia's international reserves amounted to $17,784 million.
National Wealth Fund and Reserve Fund
As of August 2011, the funds of the reserve fund are full, and the funds of the national welfare fund can be invested by 90% in securities of foreign countries with a rating of at least AA.
The maturity of bonds is from three months to three years (the exception is the maturity of up to a year for bonds of Spain with an AA rating and repayment of up to five years for bonds of Great Britain).
The currency structure of funds should be maintained at a ratio of 45%, dollars 45% of euros and 10% of pounds.
Foreign exchange reserves include international reserves minus gold (about 8%, see Gold reserves of Russia) and two types of reserve accounts with the IMF (about 2% more) - the investment structure is slightly different: 47% - US dollars, 41% - euros, 9% - pounds sterling, about 2% - Japanese yen and 1% - Canadian dollars. According to the statements of the leadership of the Russian Central Bank, assets in Australian dollars in the amount of about 1% will soon be included in the portfolio.
The requirements for the ratings of securities are the same as that of the national welfare fund, but the maturity period is no more than one year, since liquidity for the Central Bank is no less important than reliability.
The reserve fund for August 2011 is managed significantly more conservatively than allowed by a government decree. The Ministry of Finance has banned investments in the obligations of quasi-state issuers (such as mortgage banks and national development banks) and interstate development banks.
From 1996 to 2011, the management of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia and the stabilization fund created already in the 2000s and the national welfare fund and reserve fund that inherited it were carried out not without excessive (and, as it turned out, reasonable) conservatism, but in accordance with the best world practice. This is one of the few areas where the professionalism and quality of decisions of Russian officials do not cause much criticism.
Notes
- ↑ Gold Reserves by Country
- ↑ Reserve move: Russia climbed to sixth place in terms of foreign exchange reserves
- ↑ The volume of gold in the reserves of the Russian Federation for 2023 has hardly changed
- ↑ Russia became the first country where the Central Bank's gold and foreign exchange reserves were checked by the state
- ↑ Russia's international reserves for the week increased by $8.9 billion
- ↑ Russia will not buy American bonds?.
- ↑ Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves in 1998 and 2014
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