About $297 billion.. Half of Russia's cash reserves are out of the West's reach
A recent analysis revealed that Russia keeps nearly half of its foreign exchange reserves outside the reach of the West, with the largest proportion concentrated in the homeland and China, along with a reasonable proportion in unknown places.
According to the analysis conducted by the Turkish “Anatolia” agency based on data from the Russian Central Bank, Moscow maintains 21.7% of its reserves inside its territory in the form of gold, along with 13.8% in China, and 10.7% in undeclared countries.
In total, this constitutes 46.2% of foreign exchange reserves.
According to Russian Central Bank data as of February 18, foreign reserves amounted to $643 billion, which means that Russia holds about $297 billion away from the West.
According to the data, Russia holds 12.2% of the reserves in France, 10% in Japan, 9.5% in Germany, 6.6% in the United States, 5% with various intergovernmental organizations, 4.5% in the United Kingdom, and 3 % in Austria, and 2.8% in Canada.
If intergovernmental organizations such as the International Monetary Fund adhere to the principle of neutrality and do not impose restrictions on Russian assets, this means that more than half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves are likely to be free.
The share of the US dollar in Russia's foreign exchange reserves fell to 16.4% in the first half of 2021, from 22.2% in the same period in 2020. The Russian Ministry of Finance announced months ago, reducing the dollar's share in the country's National Wealth Fund to zero.
At the end of 2017, the Russian Central Bank introduced a financial messaging system, SBFS, an alternative money transfer system to the international SWIFT system.
Earlier, an analysis of a global banking group concluded that Russia's central bank and sovereign wealth fund hold $140 billion in Chinese bonds, assets that help Moscow bypass Western sanctions.
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