Russia sold 22 tons of gold to finance its budget deficit

Mon Apr 20 2026

Since the beginning of 2026, the Bank of Russia has sold 21,772 tons of gold to finance the budget deficit, which reached 4.6 trillion rubles by the end of March amid low oil and gas revenues at the beginning of the year.

Russia’s gold reserves decreased by 0.7 million troy ounces to 74.1 million troy ounces as of April 1, 2026, including a decrease of 0.2 million ounces in March, the Central Bank reported on Monday.

The Moscow Exchange reported that in March 2026, the volume of gold transactions on the precious metals market increased more than 3.5 times compared to March of the previous year, reaching 42.6 tonnes (28.6 tonnes in swap transactions and 14 tonnes in spot transactions). In rubles, the volume increased fivefold, reaching 534.4 billion rubles.

“Sales to finance the budget deficit may continue amid a sharp increase in government spending compared to budget targets. Such sales of gold from reserves by the Central Bank of Russia are entirely consistent with what other central banks are doing, especially in developing countries,” Reuters quotes Natalia Milchakova, leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, as saying.

Since the fall of 2025, the Bank of Russia has been conducting gold purchases and sales on the domestic market, whose liquidity has increased, mirroring similar transactions conducted by the Ministry of Finance with the National Welfare Fund (NWF). Gold sales also allow the Central Bank to maintain the necessary level of currency diversification in its reserves, which total nearly $775 billion, the share of which has increased significantly in recent years due to the rising price of gold.

Russia built up its gold reserves primarily between 2002 and 2025, purchasing over 1,900 tons of gold. Most of these purchases occurred between 2008 and 2012 (just over 500 tons) and between 2014 and 2019 (over 1,200 tons). Since 2020, Russia’s net gold purchases have amounted to 55.4 tons, according to Finam analyst Nikolai Dudchenko.

“Currently, a number of central banks continue to sell gold due to the need to cover expenses, including defense costs, as well as because funds are needed due to rising energy prices and to support national currency exchange rates,” Dudchenko said.

“Many central banks have previously bought gold with the intention of selling it at a high price when absolutely necessary, and given the challenging geopolitical situation and uncertainty in the global economy, it appears that such an urgent need has arisen this year,” Milchakova said. Specifically, Turkey’s central bank is selling foreign currency from its reserves to stabilize the weakening lira.

Freedom Finance Global estimates that demand for gold will not decline significantly in the future, as it is the dollar’s most serious competitor as a reserve currency. “When gold prices are low, during corrections, central banks will buy gold, and in the long term, when prices rise, they will sell it to generate liquidity for important tasks, including stabilizing the banking system. In the next two months, we forecast that gold prices will likely return to $5,000 per troy ounce,” Milchakova said.

Gold prices fell on Monday amid a stronger dollar and heightened inflation fears following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Spot gold prices fell to $4,797.79 per troy ounce, hitting their lowest level since April 13.

Source: https://ukrainetoday.org/