March 23 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank has increased
its holdings of gold by one million troy ounces since the start
of the war in Ukraine, data published by the central bank on
Wednesday showed.
Western sanctions, imposed shortly after Moscow invaded
Ukraine, froze about half of Russia's gold and forex reserves
and hit the country's main banks which used to be the main
buyers of Russian miners' gold, prompting producers to search
for new export routes to Asia.
In October, the local association of Russian gold miners
called for the government to support the industry with more
active purchases, though the central bank rebuffed the calls,
saying it saw no need to raise its gold holdings within its
reserves.
This week the bank said its gold holdings stood at 74.9
million troy ounces as of March 1, 2023, worth some $135.56
billion - up from 73.9 million ounces on Feb. 1, 2022, when it
last disclosed such data.
Russia's central bank and other government departments
stopped publishing swathes of data after the West hit Moscow
with a package of unprecedented sanctions over the invasion of
Ukraine.
In dollar-terms, the bank's gold holdings were up 2.5% over
the 13-month period, according to the bank's calculations. Gold
accounted for 23.6% of the bank's $574.2 billion total reserves.
Western countries froze about $300 billion - almost half of
Russia's reserves at the time - that were held in their
jurisdictions at the start of the conflict in a move which few
in Moscow predicted the West would make.
Locked out of the dollar and euro, Russia has shifted
towards the Chinese yuan as a reserve currency over the last
year.
(Reporting by Jake Cordell and Polina Devitt, Editing by
William Maclean)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.