U.S. Sanctions on Russia Fasten De-Dollarization, Russia SWF Ditches Dollars
Posted on 06/03/2021
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) told the audience that Russia’s National Wealth Fund will ditch its holdings in dollars, dramatically increase its holdings of Chinese yuan and invest in gold for the first ever time. The wealth fund would divest from US$ 41 billion worth of U.S. dollars within a month.
“Today we have about 35% of NWF investments in dollars,” Siluanov said. “We’ve decided to get out of dollar assets completely, replacing investments in dollars with an increase in euros and gold.”
The transaction will not involve the actual sale of U.S. dollars, as it will be carried out through internal transfers and an accounting shift within Russia’s central bank.
New Currency Allocation
The share of euros in the wealth fund will be increased to 40%, the Chinese yuan will account for 30%, and another 20% will be stored in gold.
Keywords: National Welfare Fund.
