Russia gives a lethal setback to the US dollar
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ISLAMABAD - Russia’s foreign currency reserves in the US dollar have been halved in a year as the country seeks to increase holdings in currencies other than the greenback to offset the impacts of the American sanctions.
The Thursday report on the website of the Russia-backed RT news channel said the share of the dollar in Russia’s international reserves had decreased to 23.6 percent in March 2019, down from 43.7 percent a year ago.
Citing data provided by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), the report said Moscow had decided to increase holdings in gold, China’s yuan and the euro amid Washington’s rising use of the greenback to pressure trade and economic relations in other parts of the world.
The CBR’s holdings in yuan had increased from 5 percent to 14.2 percent in the 12-month period, said the report, adding that euro reserves had surged 8.1 percent year-on-year to stand at 30.3 percent. Gold reserves also surged slightly, from 17.2 percent to 18.2 percent, it said.
The report said the data was published with a six-month delay mainly because the CBR feared earlier release could affect the markets and impact the bank’s forex policies.
