BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2015/28
Although Russia’s foreign currency reserves shrank visibly overall in the first half of this year, the situation has ceased to deteriorate in recent months and even recovered slightly. Capital outflow from Russia has slowed in recent months and the dollar value of reserves has also been affected by changes in exchange rates. The Central Bank of Russia announced in mid-May that it will start buying foreign currency to boost reserves. The CBR has since averaged a daily volume of nearly $200 million in currency purchasing. The value of Russia’s currency reserves were $362 billion at end-June.
In line with international standards, Russia’s reserves consist of monetary gold, IMF reserves and Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), as well as other reserves. Russia’s other reserves include majority of the country’s oil funds as they are in liquid foreign assets and controlled and invested by the CBR according to finance ministry guidelines.
Russia’s foreign currency reserves, USD billion
Sources: CBR, Russian finance ministry, BOFIT