Volume of NWF decreases by 130 bln rubles to 11.75 trln rubles in March, liquid part to 1.5% of GDP
MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - The National Wealth Fund (NWF) continued to contract in March, having decreased by 129.881 billion rubles over the month, while its liquid part also continued to decline at 1.5% of GDP against 1.6% a month earlier and 2% by the end of 2024.
The Finance Ministry reported on Wednesday that the volume of the NWF as of April 1, 2025, totaled 11,750,725,500,000 rubles, equivalent to $140.422 billion, or 5.5% of GDP projected for the year.
As of March 1, it was 11,880,606,500,000 rubles, equivalent to $135.47 billion, 5.5% of GDP, and as of February 1, it was 11,965,801,900 rubles, equivalent to $122.1 billion, 5.6% of GDP. In January, the fund grew by 85.8 billion rubles.
Gold in unallocated form on accounts tracking NWF assets decreased to 168.271 tonnes in March from 174.627 tonnes at the beginning of the month (178.996 tonnes at the start of February, 187.749 tonnes at the start of January and 279.563 tonnes at the start of December). The Finance Ministry said previously that the reduction in gold holdings (aside from the sale of 58.96 tonnes in December to finance the budget deficit) was part of liquidity management operations. The gold held in the account was sold, and the funds were allocated to finance specific projects.
The amount of yuan on the NWF accounts increased by 101.7 million yuan to 164.388 billion yuan, compared to 164.286 billion yuan a month earlier. The Finance Ministry previously said these minor fluctuations were a result of converting a portion of returned funds (previously invested in projects) into yuan. In previous months, the amount of yuan declined due to investments in securities of other Russian issuers and the financing of the budget deficit in December. The Finance Ministry first disclosed information about investments in yuan-denominated bonds of Russian issuers last July, saying that 3 billion yuan was invested that month. In August, investments amounted to 2.75 billion yuan, in September - 2 billion yuan, in October - 1.25 billion yuan and in November - 1 billion yuan.
In addition, 1.672 billion rubles are held in NWF accounts.
As of April 1, the size of the fund's liquid assets stood at the equivalent of 3.269 trillion rubles, or $39.064 billion (1.5% of forecasted annual GDP). A month earlier, they amounted to 3.394 trillion rubles, or $38.7 billion (1.6% of forecasted GDP for 2025). At the end of January, the figure was 3.751 trillion rubles ($38.3 billion, 1.7% of GDP), while at the beginning of the year, it stood at 3.81 trillion rubles ($37.5 billion, 2% of GDP).