Russia’s forex reserves maintain growth

Half of the holdings remain frozen as part of Ukraine-related sanctions

Russia’s foreign currency reserves increased by $300 million, or 0.05%, in the week ending September 16, the Bank of Russia announced this week. The central bank regularly publishes updates on its reserves with a one-week lag. 

The country’s forex holdings amounted to $557.7 billion, data published on the website of the regulator shows.

Russia’s international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets consisting of monetary gold, foreign currencies, and Special Drawing Rights, which are at the disposal of the Central Bank and the government.

However, in March half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves were frozen as part of Ukraine-related sanctions.

Earlier this month, the Bank of Russia explained why half of the country’s reserves had been kept abroad, thus enabling the US and its allies to freeze them. The regulator stated that the funds were used to service the country’s external debt and other obligations and that keeping them in Russia would have been akin to not having reserves at all, as such assets protect the economy against external crises.

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