Page 43 - RusRPTJan22

5.2.4 Gross international reserves
Russia’s gross international reserves (GIR) ended 2021 at an all-time high of $630.5bn, reports the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).
Russia has been storing up cash as a way of insuring itself against sanctions. Reserves rose by $33.1bn over the course of 2021, starting from $597.4bn as of January 1, 2021, and now account for 38% of the 2021 GDP – the fourth-largest reserves in the world.
The biggest contribution to reserves was the one-off payment of $17.5bn in late August by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the fund’s currency, that was part of a $650bn payout to help countries recover from the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) more quickly. That payment boosted Russia’s reserves to a new all-time high of $615.6bn as of September 1.
However, reserves added almost the same amount again thanks to rising commodity prices that have seen the current account also surge to an all-time high.
43 RUSSIA Country Report January 2022 www.intellinews.com