The Central Bank of Russia has reportedly continued selling gold from its sovereign reserves for the tenth consecutive month as part of ongoing operations to cover the country's swelling budget deficit. Current projections indicate that the fiscal deficit this year will supposedly double initial official plans, reaching a staggering 7.3 trillion rubles and highlighting deep economic vulnerabilities.

According to data released by the regulator, Russia's gold reserves shrank by another 0.2 million troy ounces (approximately 6.2 tonnes) in September alone, bringing total holdings down to 72.8 million ounces—the lowest level recorded since the end of 2019. Since the large-scale sell-off was initiated in December, the country's reserves have diminished by a total of 2 million troy ounces, or roughly 62 tonnes. * International Monetary Fund statistics indicate that modern Russian history has witnessed such rapid gold liquidation on only one previous occasion: during the 1998 financial default and currency crisis. With Western sanctions restricting traditional financial avenues, the Russian authorities have increasingly reoriented their trade flows toward Asian markets, with China absorbing record volumes of the exported precious metal.

Source: kun.uz