In 2018 Russia's Central Bank, dumped $100bn in US bonds, got the share of dollars in foreign reserves down to just 22%, bought up a bunch of yuan ($44bn in just the first six months), and added a record 274 tonnes of gold -- more than the country mines in a year, so that it had to for the first time buy up foreign gold from international markets
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) purchased a record 8.8mn ounces of gold, or about 274 tonnes, in 2018, according to the regulator's website, up from the 7.2mn ounces (224 tonnes) the central bank bought in 2017, an increase of 22.2% y/y, the CBR reported on January 18.
The CBR began actively buying gold and increasing the yellow metal’s share in the reserve basket since 2007, but the purchases have accelerated recently as Russia attempts to protect itself from possible “crushing” sanction by the US this year.
Gold reserves share in the international reserves of the CBR by the end of 2018 reached 67.9mn ounces (about 2,112 tonnes) and now account for 18.6% of the CBR’s total gross international reserves (GIR).
Previously in 2018 the CBR caused a stir in the international bond markets by apparently dumping 84% of its holdings in US treasury bills, or about $100bn worth of bonds, bringing its holding in the world’s favourite gross international reserves (GIR) instrument down to a mere $14.9bn.
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