https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Russian central bank buys more gold in face of tougher sanctions

22nd August 2018

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

LONDON – Russia added more gold reserves in July than any other month this year as it continues to buy up the metal in the face of US sanctions.

The Russian central bank added 26.1 t last month, bringing its holdings to 2 170 t, according to International Monetary Fund data compiled by Bloomberg. The stockpile was valued at $77.4-billion at the end of the month, according to the central bank’s website. The last time Russia bought more gold in a single month was in November.

In April and May, Russia reduced its holdings of US bills, notes and bonds by about four-fifths, and bought more gold, leading to speculation that the nation was dumping American assets to shield itself from the growing risk of harsher sanctions. Gold is “a 100% guarantee from legal and political risks,” the central bank’s First Deputy Governor Dmitry Tulin said at the time.

“This is a very smart move from Putin,” Jim Rickards, author and editor of newsletter Strategic Intelligence, said in an interview. “Russia is in a financial war. They’re getting out of US dollars and getting into gold. This insulates them from US dollar freezes and sanctions.”

The pressure on Russia is mounting, with the US stepping up sanctions and the UK’s top diplomat Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday calling on the European Union to follow suit in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil last year.

“The Americans are weaponizing the US dollar, and it’s absolutely right for Russia to want to diversify its foreign currency holdings,” said John Meyer, a partner at SP Angel in London. “Gold is the ultimate liquid investment if you don’t want exposure to the dollar.”

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

Showroom

Condra Cranes
Condra Cranes

ISO-certified Condra manufactures overhead cranes, portal cranes, cantilever cranes and crane components: hoists, drives, end-carriages, brakes and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Showroom image
Alcohol Breathalysers

Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.071 0.122s - 156pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now