Why does Russia increase its foreign exchange reserves?

Russia continues to boost its foreign exchange reserves, despite economic pressure from Western sanctions.

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Russia's foreign exchange reserves reached $587.5 billion as of June 16. (Source: DW)

According to the Central Bank of Russia's report, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached 587.5 billion USD as of June 16.

According to the Bank's calculations, the volume of international reserves increased by $1.8 billion in just one week, from June 9 to June 17, equivalent to 0.3%, largely due to "positive market revaluations".

In May 2023, reserves fell 1.95% - equivalent to $11.6 billion - to $584.1 billion, after soaring above $600 billion in April.

Russia's foreign exchange reserves reached a historic high of $643.2 billion on February 18, 2022, but fell by 8.4% over the past year and reached $577.5 billion on the first day of this year (January 1, 2023).

About half of Russia's foreign currency reserves were frozen by Western central banks in March last year - part of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military intervention in Ukraine.

The remaining assets include gold and foreign currencies, as well as Chinese yuan, held domestically.

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