Russia's Gold Reserves Highest in the World

January 16, 2004

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting with the government leadership on Dec. 29, emphasized Russia's vast amount of gold reserves, which are among the highest in the world.

In Russia, the central bank reported cash exchanges during October 2003 at a level not seen since the 1998 crisis: Russian citizens exchanged over $5.5 billion of foreign currency. In its monthly review of the currency market, the Russian central bank noted: "The decline of the ruble-dollar exchange rate in September, combined with the rise of [the] euro, greatly increased the interest in the euro among Russian individual depositors. The demand for euro[s] increased by 42% in October. The structure of currency demand has abruptly changed in favor of the euro, while the demand for the U.S. dollar fell by 11%." Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting with the government leadership on Dec. 29, emphasized Russia's vast amount of gold reserves, which are among the highest in the world.

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