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Gold and currency reserves up $1bnRussia’s gold and foreign currency reserves increased by $1bn to $95.3bn in the period from September 24 to October 1, 2004, the Central Bank’s External and Public Relations Department reported.
The reserves rose for the sixth straight week. During this period, they increased by $7bn. The significant rise was due to the Central Bank’s purchases of US dollars on the domestic market.
In the previous week, from September 17 to September 24, the gold and foreign currency reserves increased by $1.7bn.
Earlier, Alexey Ulyukayev, Senior Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, said the gold and foreign currency reserves were expected to exceed $100bn by the end of the year. Given the high growth rate of the reserves, we can assume that they will meet the target earlier than planned.
The gold and foreign currency reserves are highly liquid financial assets controlled by the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry of Russia. They consist of monetary gold, special drawing rights, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund, and foreign currency.
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