Russian Central Bank Reports Record High of International Reserves
The international gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia have reached a new historical record high, amounting to $650.4 billion as of the end of March, according to a statement from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the same day.
The statement reads: “The international reserves stood at $650.4 billion at the end of March 25, having increased by $8.5 billion or 1.3% over the week, mainly due to a positive revaluation.”
The international gold and foreign exchange reserves are liquid assets held by the Bank of Russia and the Russian government in foreign currencies or in the form of foreign assets. The reserves consist of gold, special drawing rights (SDRs), reserve positions at the IMF and foreign currency funds.
Russia’s reserves had previously reached a record high of $643.2 billion on February 18, 2022. Only China, Japan, Switzerland and India have larger reserves, with India’s reserves, including gold, estimated at around the same magnitude and developing in a similar way, according to 2023 data. India’s foreign exchange reserves, including gold, were valued at $638 billion in February 2025. Germany’s reserves, as of October 1, 2024, stood at over $345 billion, with more than two-thirds held in gold.
In Russia, however, the central bank’s policy has not been met with widespread approval, particularly in the context of the fact that around $300 billion in funds, frozen in various collective Western countries and at risk of being seized, have been lost. Opposition economists have argued that the money would have been better spent on the acquisition of investment goods and the promotion of economic growth in the country, rather than being managed according to monetarist principles. The central bank, on the other hand, maintains that the current growth of the economy is limited by the labor shortage in all areas and that a monetary policy aimed at more growth would lead to higher inflation.