23 Oct 2009 15:44

Russia has approx 35% of reserves in US Treasuries

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - Russia generally has approximately 35% of its international reserves invested in US Treasuries, CB First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev told reporters.

"This changes all the time, but doesn't stray far from 35% either way," he said.

It was reported earlier that Russia held $121.6 billion in US Treasuries as of the end of August, up from $118 billion as of the end of July.

It is the first uptick since Russia's US Treasuries holdings hit an all-time high of $138.4 billion in March this year.

Ulyukayev said in June 2009 that the Central Bank had substantially boosted its investment in US Treasuries during the crisis by reducing the amount of reserves in bank deposits, closing out its position in U.S. mortgage securities and reducing repo operations.

At the end of September 2008 Ulyukayev said the share of US Treasuries in Russia's international reserves were holding steady at over 30%, fluctuating by no more than one or two percentage points a month.

Russia's international reserves totaled $423.4 billion as of October 16.