Gold in Central Bank of Russia's reserves falls by another 0.2 mln oz in Aug 2026

MOSCOW. Sept 18 (Interfax) - Gold in the Central Bank of Russia's reserves declined by another 0.2 million ounces (approximately 6 tonnes; the format of the CBR's data does not allow for an exact estimate) in August 2026, the Central Bank said.

As of September 1, monetary gold in the composition of Russia's international reserves amounted to 73 million oz (around 2,270 tonnes) worth $333.5 billion, the CBR said. In physical terms, the indicator decreased 0.3% over the month, while in value terms it increased 13.9%.

Russia has been reducing the amount of gold in reserves by 0.2-0.3 million oz every month in 2026. In total, it has decreased by 1.8 million oz (around 56 tonnes) since the beginning of the year.

"The small decrease that has occurred now is mainly related to Finance Ministry's operations, with funds from the National Wealth Fund; this happens as part of the fiscal rule. Gold is also used for the production of coins," Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said regarding the dynamics of gold levels in reserves at a press conference on September 11. "We do not disclose additional details of our operations with gold," she said.

The current global trend of central banks purchasing gold may correspond to the strategy that the CBR implemented from 2014 to 2020, she said. "That is why we occupy sixth place in the world in terms of the size of gold reserves," she said.

The CBR actively bought gold in 2014-2019 and led among the world's central banks in terms of purchasing amounts. However, in the spring of 2020 it announced that it was suspending the purchase of the precious metal, and for several years the dynamics of the amount of gold in reserves were less pronounced (as a rule, plus or minus 0.1 million oz).