MENA Newswire News Desk: Russia has escalated its daily gold purchases by 700%, the country’s Finance Ministry revealed on Wednesday. From September 6 to October 4, Russia will allocate 8.2 billion rubles ($92 million) each day to buy gold and foreign currency, amounting to a total of 172.9 billion rubles ($1.9 billion). The new daily spending target represents a significant increase from the 1.12 billion rubles ($12.4 million) per day the ministry was allocating from August 7 to September 5, a total of 24.65 billion rubles ($272.8 million) during that period.
The Ministry attributed the rise in spending to windfall revenues from oil and gas, which are projected to reach 162 billion rubles in September. “The amount of funds allocated for purchases of foreign currency and gold totals 172.9 billion rubles,” the Finance Ministry stated. “Daily purchases from September 6 to October 4 will be 8.2 billion rubles.” The Central Bank will be selling 0.2 billion rubles ($2.2 million) per day in currency during the same period, down from 7.8 billion rubles ($86.3 million) sold daily from August 7 to September 5.
In August, Russia’s Finance Ministry resumed gold and currency purchases after an 18-month hiatus, as Moscow aimed to capitalize on higher oil prices. The country had paused foreign exchange interventions following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s Finance Ministry had previously halted FX purchases in late January 2022 due to rising geopolitical tensions. The program was suspended the following month as sanctions from the U.S. and Europe froze much of Russia’s currency reserves. Now, the Chinese yuan remains Russia’s main reserve asset, with oil and gas providing one-third of the country’s budget revenues.