The size of Russia’s international reserves in August for the first time exceeded 618.2 billion US dollars, Russian media reported.
“This is a historic record – during the entire existence of the Bank of Russia, such indicators have not been achieved,” says the report of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation following the results of the audit of the country’s monetary reserves.
Russia sent the aid it got from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the reserves in the amount of $17.55 billion. Since the beginning of 2015, the amount of reserves has grown by 1.5 times.
In October 2021, the indicator reached a new record of $620.8 billion.
The country has now significantly increased the share of gold during the sanctions, from 7.8% in 2014 to 23.3% at the end of 2020. By the beginning of this month, the number decreased to 21%.
“The analysis has shown that the goal of managing reserve assets – ensuring the optimal combination of their safety, liquidity, and profitability – has been achieved by the Bank of Russia,” the Accounts Chamber’s report says.
Russia ranks 5th in the world in terms of international reserves. China, Japan, Switzerland, and India lead in terms of reserves.
In addition to gold and foreign currency, government bonds, Russian reserves include special drawing rights – a means of payment issued by the International Monetary Fund. Their amount also increased significantly: from $7 billion to $24.6 billion.
