Amount of gold in Russia's reserves almost unchanged in 2023 - CBR

MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Russia's international reserves held 75 million ounces of monetary gold worth $155.9 billion as of the beginning of 2024, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) reported.

By volume, this was unchanged from the start of 2023. The CBR reduced the gold reserves by 100,000-200,000 ounces in the course of the year, but by fall it had bought back the shortfall.

However, the value of the gold in the reserves grew by 15% in 2023 on the back of higher prices for the metal. The share of gold in Russia's reserves grew to 26% from 23%.

The CBR actively bought gold in 2014-2019 and was the leading buyer of the metal among the world's central banks. But in the spring of 2020 it announced it was suspending purchases of the metal and the dynamic of the amount of gold in the reserves has been less pronounced since then.