The share of monetary gold in Russian international reserves increased by 1.37 percent in October 2018 (+ 28 metric tons) and as of November 1, reached 66.4 million ounces, which is equal to 2,065.27 tons, according to the Bank of Russia’s reports.
Earlier, from January to September, the bank purchased another 199.08 tons of gold, thereby accounting for 227.07 tons of monetary gold bought by the Central Bank during the first 10 months of 2018.
The value of the gold reserves rose by 4.6 percent in October, to 81.055 billion dollars as of November 1, from 77.491 billion as of October 1. The share of gold in international reserves similarly went up from 15.64 percent to 16.88 percent.
The physical volume of gold bullion in international reserves has been steadily going up in recent years: as of the beginning of 2007, the gold reserves amounted to 402 tons, the following year, it increased by another 48 tons and in early 2017, the total amount stood at 1,614.3 tons. The gold reserves of Russia alone skyrocketed by 13.87 percent, which accounted for 223.95 newly purchased tons.
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Central banks around the world are boosting their gold reserves at an incredible pace. Over the last three months alone, they have purchased gold worth 5.82 billion dollars, which is roughly a quarter more than the year earlier, according to data provided by the World Gold Council. It is noteworthy that the Central Banks of Russia, Turkey and China, which have lately had a tense relationship with the United States, have broken a record in terms of gold purchases in a bid to secure themselves against the possibility of the weakening dollar, a number of analysts noted.
In the meantime, the Bank of Russia is leading in the purchases, which stand at 92 metric tons. Russia previously bought a comparable amount of the precious metal only at the height of the 1993 market reforms.
The aforementioned countries have also become major vendors of US Treasury securities over the course of the year, with Russia having cut its investments in the US national debt to 1/8 of what it was previously.
