Russia bought 19 tonnes of gold in November

The central bank of Russia bought a lot of gold again in November, according to the latest monthly report from the World Gold Council. In November, the Russians added 18.9 tonnes of gold to their reserves, while a month earlier they had already put 19.7 tonnes of gold in the vault. The country remains almost uninterrupted Buy gold and has already built up a stock of 1,168.7 tonnes. Rated according to the current Gold price this gold reserve represents 10.2% of the total reserves of the Russian central bank.

From July to October, the central bank systematically added gold to its reserves. During this period, according to the World Gold Council, 74 tons of the precious metal were bought domestically alone. This metal comes from the gold mines in Russia and has come to the central bank via the commercial banks.

Growth of Russian gold reserves

Russia keeps buying gold

The central bank's decision to continue buying gold is not understood by everyone. The ruble is under heavy pressure and has already lost almost half of its value against the US dollar this year. Normally, in such a situation, a central bank uses its foreign currency reserves to buy back its own currency, so that the depreciation is limited.

That is not the strategy Russia is following, because it now leaves the valuation of the ruble almost entirely to the market. In recent months, the central bank has intervened only a few times to keep currency speculators at bay. There is no longer any question of structural support for the domestic currency.

Russian gold holdings as a percentage of total reserves

More countries expand reserves

Russia is not the only country that added gold to its reserves in November. Kazakhstan, which has also been buying precious metals structurally lately, added 1.9 tonnes to its reserves, bringing it to a total of 185.9 tonnes. Azerbaijan bought 3.2 tonnes, bringing its total stock to 30.2 tonnes. White Russia added 2.1 tonnes of gold and has a total of 41.1 tonnes in the vault. Mongolia also bought 4.3 tonnes of the yellow metal. Indonesia and Sri Lanka both bought 1 ton of gold, and the Philippines and Bulgaria put an extra 100 kilograms (0.1 tons) in the vault.

The total stock levels as currently known to the IMF can be found on the website of the World Gold Council. Click here for a pdf.