Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $551.5 billion as of June 13, 2008, up $2.4 billion or 0.4 percent from $549.1 billion a week before
Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $551.5 billion as of June 13, 2008, up $2.4 billion or 0.4 percent from $549.1 billion a week before.
The reserves rose for the eighteenth week in a row. From February 7 to June 6, they increased by $68.1 billion, and in the eighteen weeks from February 7 to June 13, the reserves climbed by $70.5 billion, or almost 15 percent.
The fast rise could be due both to the dollar’s depreciation against the euro and the Central Bank’s increased acquisition of foreign currency on Russia’s forex market, bringing the reserves to their highest level ever recorded. According to Alexei Ulyukayev, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, the bank has purchased over $20 billion on the Russian market since April 1. As a result, Russia has slightly reduced its gap from China and Japan, which have the largest gold and foreign currency reserves in the world.
China’s reserves top $1.75 trillion, up by more than $74 billion in April 2008 alone. China is unrivalled in terms of gold and forex reserves, largely thanks to its huge trade surplus, fed by its growing exports to the United States. Japan’s reserves stood at $1.015 trillion as of the end of March, boosted by the euro’s significant appreciation against the yen and rising bond yields.
Gold and foreign currency reserves are highly liquid financial assets controlled by the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. They consist of monetary gold, special drawing rights, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund, and foreign currency.
