Rising gold prices and Russia’s efforts to boost its bullion holdings have led the country’s gold reserves to rise to more than $100 billion, Finansovaya Gazeta reported.
In June alone, Russia added more than 18 tons of the precious metal, authorities said in a report.
June’s gold purchases brought Russia’s gold reserves to a total of 2,208 tons, according to the latest data released by the Bank of Russia. This meant Russia was sitting on a mountain of gold valued at $100,277.6 million as of July 1, the report shows.
Since the beginning of the year the national holdings of the precious metal have been increased by around 96.4 tons amid Moscow’s push to de-dollarize its foreign exchange reserves. More than 6 tons were added to Russia’s coffers in May, around 16 tons in April, and a further 18 tons in March.
The biggest gold buying spree came in February, when Russian gold reserves rose by more than 31 tons in one month. During the first month of the year 6 tons of gold were added.
Last year, Russia was crowned the most committed purchaser of gold as it acquired almost 275 tons, the largest amount ever purchased in a single year, according to the World Gold Council.
Moscow used to be one of the largest investors in U.S. Treasury securities, but has dumped much of them in recent years. Russia’s holdings of U.S. debt are currently at the lowest level since May 2007 totaling $12.024 billion. Last year, Russia reduced its holdings by more than 85 percent, from $96.9 billion in January to $13.2 billion in December.
