The Central Bank does not consider it necessary to accumulate gold and foreign exchange reserves

The Bank of Russia is considering expanding gold and foreign exchange reserves (GFR) only if additional accumulation of funds is required within the framework of the fiscal rule. Currently, the Central Bank has sufficient funds in both yuan and gold, said Elvira Nabiullina, chairman of the regulator.

“When we made the decision to have two parts of the gold reserves: one for the event of a financial crisis, the other for geopolitical scenarios, as a result of this, we now have a sufficient amount of funds in both yuan and gold, and there is no need to accumulate. Buying into gold and foreign exchange reserves can only be possible if there is an accumulation of funds within the framework of the budget rule, then we will act as an agent of the Ministry of Finance,” Ms. Nabiullina said at a press conference of the Bank of Russia (the event is broadcast on YouTube channel regulator).

In November, the Central Bank fixed an increase in Russia’s international reserves by $10.5 billion (up to $552.1 billion) due to a positive revaluation. After the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions against the regulator, due to which about $300 billion of the $640 billion of the Central Bank’s gold and foreign exchange reserves were frozen.

Andrey Sapozhnikov