Russia releases latest forex reserve numbers

Russia continues to grow its foreign-currency reserves, which surpassed $594 billion in January, the Bank of Russia announced on Thursday.

According to the regulator, the holdings amounted to $594.6 billion as of January 20, rising by 0.4% or $2.6 billion week-on-week due to a positive revaluation of currencies. As of January 13, Russia's forex reserves totalled $592 billion.

The central bank regularly publishes updates on its holdings with a one-week lag. Russia’s international reserves, which are highly liquid foreign assets held by the Bank of Russia and the country’s government, consist of foreign-currency funds, special drawing rights with the IMF, and monetary gold.

Nearly half of Russia’s foreign-currency reserves were frozen by Western central banks in early March as part of sanctions over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. In addition to freezing the funds, Western countries banned any management operations. 

The remaining holdings consist of gold and foreign currency held within the country, as well as Chinese yuan assets. Prior to the conflict, on February 18, Russia's forex reserves had reached a historical maximum of $643.2 billion.

Earlier this month, media reports emerged that the European Union is exploring options to confiscate frozen Russian assets to help fund the rebuilding of Ukraine

Moscow has repeatedly called the freezing of its assets “theft” and warned that it contravenes international law. According to the Kremlin, the idea of international reserves has been discredited by the use of the dollar as a weapon in the sanctions war against Russia.

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