Russians are advised to invest in gold following the example of the state

“Small three-gram coins are accessible to almost everyone.”

In November, the value of monetary gold in Russia’s reserves for the first time exceeded $150 billion, while in physical terms the reserves decreased by 16 tons. According to experts, the first of the two indicators is due to the price record that the yellow metal set on world exchanges: quotes reached an unprecedented level of $2,140 per troy ounce. It turns out that the Russian achievement is of a purely arithmetic nature.

According to the Central Bank, as of the beginning of December, Russia’s international (gold and foreign exchange) reserves amounted to $592.352 billion. Of this, foreign currency accounted for $412.261 billion, the rest was monetary gold and other assets. The regulator resumed publication of an expanded set of indicators on international reserves in March 2023, after a year-long break that followed sanctions.

In July, Reuters, citing a survey of central banks and sovereign wealth funds conducted by the investment company Invesco, reported that amid anti-Russian sanctions, more and more countries are repatriating gold reserves. For almost 60% of respondents, the attractiveness of gold (due to its high protective properties and the technical impossibility of blocking it) has increased precisely due to the fact that the West has frozen almost half of the international assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, amounting to about $300 billion. We asked experts whether this will continue is the cost of monetary gold in Russia’s reserves growing, and is it worth it for ordinary citizens to invest in this precious metal today?

Alexey Vyazovsky, vice-president of the Zolotaya Plata company:

“The November achievement is associated with the price record that gold market quotes set last week. $2140 per troy ounce – this has never happened in history. Apparently, when we took this value during recalculation, it turned out that our gold reserves increased. However, this week the yellow metal fell in price to the level of $2,000 per troy ounce, where it has been for a couple of years. I think the next recalculation will show that we have returned to our previous figures. Moreover, the Central Bank is not increasing physical volumes; it even sold a small amount of tons in November. To be honest, there was a false start that gave Russia nothing.

Let’s hope that gold will steadily rise in price in the future. The problem is that there is a so-called “gold pool” in the world: this is an alliance of the largest central and transnational banks, which, through exchange manipulation of paper gold (futures), prevent prices from rising. Gold is a natural competitor to the dollar, and the West is absolutely not interested in this competition. In any case, I advise Russians to invest in this precious metal, regardless of market conditions. Try to allocate 20-30% of your income (monthly or quarterly) to the purchase of investment coins. It’s not as difficult as it may seem: there are small three-gram coins available to almost everyone.”

Andrey Loboda, economist, director of communications at BitRiver:

“Since gold is a commodity, its prices will always change. Today they are slightly correcting downwards, after recently updating their historical record. Prices may fall at the moment, but the long-term trend for gold appears to be growing. Moreover, the dollar will obviously weaken in 2024 as the Fed switches to the practice of lowering interest rates. The benefit to Russia is that gold is one of the safest ways to store international reserves. The disadvantage is its lower liquidity compared to currencies and dollar-denominated securities. But no one can block reserves in gold. Of course, investing in this precious metal, including bullion coins, makes sense. But there is an alternative – in the form of an impersonal metal account. It solves the problem of gold storage and possible damage or low quality of the gold coin.”

Sergey Ramaninov, analyst at Markets Money Power:

“Taking into account the fact that the US Federal Reserve plans to reduce the rate in 2024, conditions are being created for an increase in prices for gold and other commodities. Accordingly, investing in precious metals can clearly become even more popular. Despite the fact that gold has been steadily rising in price for many months, prices have increased by almost 15% this year alone. The situation is also favorable for private investors, especially since Russia has temporarily abolished VAT on investment gold and gold bars. Traditionally, this asset is considered very conservative, its volatility is low, which means there is a good opportunity to protect your financial assets from exchange rate fluctuations and economic turbulence.”