By April 30, Russia's international reserves increased 13.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 3 percent, in a single month to reach 460.7 billion dollars, said the Central Bank on Thursday. Over the last week of April, some 6 billion dollars were added to the reserves. Since the start of this year, Russian international reserves have surged 21.7 billion dollars, or 4.93 percent.
The international reserves consist of highly liquid financial assets at the disposal of the central bank and the government, including foreign currency, monetary gold, special drawing rights, the reserve position at the International Monetary Fund and other reserve assets.
Russia's international reserves surged to a record high of 597.5 billion dollars in August 2008. But the Russian economy, which is heavily dependent on energy sales, was hit hard by the global economic downturn as oil prices collapsed in late 2008. The central bank spent a large amount of reserves in stabilizing the value of the ruble amidst the crisis.
