Russia sold gold from National Wealth Fund to cover budget deficit for the first time in January

The Russian Finance Ministry sold 3.6 tonnes of gold from the Russian National Wealth Fund in January 2023; this was the first such sale to cover the country’s federal budget deficit.

Source: Forbes Russia, referring to the Russian Finance Ministry

Details: In addition to gold, the Russian Ministry of Finance sold 2.3 billion Chinese yuan.

The total sales of gold and yuan amounted to 38.5 billion roubles (approximately US$543 million). The proceeds were credited to the federal budget account to finance its deficit, the Ministry of Finance explained.

The Russian National Wealth Fund (NWF) amounted to 10.8 trillion roubles (equivalent to US$155.3 billion) on 1 February 2023, or 7.2% of the GDP projected for 2023.

A month earlier, the fund amounted to 10.4 trillion roubles, as projected for 2022.

"Thus, in January, the NWF grew by 373 billion roubles. The fund’s liquid assets amounted to 6.3 trillion roubles, or $91 billion, which corresponds to 4.2% of the GDP projected for 2023," Forbes wrote.

Background: In January, there was a deficit of 1.76 trillion roubles (approximately US$25 billion) in the Russian federal budget. The country’s oil and gas revenues amounted to 426 billion roubles (over US$6 billion), down 46% from January 2022.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!