Tons of gold will not save Russia

4
The gold reserve is one of the pillars of national wealth. It is no coincidence that the most developed countries of the world compete among themselves in the amount of gold reserves. In 2018, Russia entered the Top 5 holders of gold reserves, leaving China behind. Despite the fact that Beijing has always paid great attention to the formation of its gold reserve, Moscow managed to overtake the PRC and take fourth place in the world in reserves of the most precious metal.



Currently, Russia is second only to three holders of gold. The world's largest gold reserve of 8134 tons is controlled by the United States of America. Germany has the second gold reserve - 3374 tons of gold. In third place is the International Monetary Fund with 2814 tons of gold. Fourth place is now taken by Russia. The Bank of Russia has published information about the country's gold reserves - it is 1856,88 tons of gold, which is estimated at $ 80 billion. Not only China, but also such serious players as France and Italy have remained behind Russia.

Interestingly, in recent years, the pace of building up gold reserves in Russia is the most rapid. Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Qatar also show trends in increasing their gold reserves, however, the amount of gold available to these countries is incomparable with the Russian gold reserve.

Why does a country need gold?

At firstSignificant gold reserves make it possible to achieve substantial independence from the financial systems of the United States and the European Union. It is for this purpose that China is building up its golden potential, which has long been trying to create an alternative settlement system and provide reliable protection against possible unfriendly actions by the United States.

Secondlyof no less importance is the gold reserve as a kind of insurance against the numerous risks that accompany changes in the world economic и political situation.

What do we currently see in the world? Tensions are growing in the political relations between Russia and the United States, economic sanctions imposed against our country remain, bloody armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa last for years. Under these conditions, gold is becoming one of the most reliable economic reserves of the country.

However, the possession of a serious gold reserve does not make the country as protected from possible threats as possible. Thus, gold prices, although not as dynamic as oil prices, are also subject to fluctuations. Determines the world gold prices of the London Stock Exchange. If Russia becomes the owner of a huge gold reserve, the West will still get the opportunity to influence the economic situation by lowering the price of gold on the London Stock Exchange.

Therefore, the possession of a powerful gold reserve is good subject to the availability of other assets and instruments. This can be compared with human assets - it is best to have real estate, a deposit in a bank, and an insurance deposit. So at the macro level - the state increases its economic security when the gold reserve is far from the only reserve asset. Although, of course, in critical situations, gold can really save the situation.
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  1. +4
    6 March 2018 21: 16
    If gold is not entirely a reliable factor of independence, then American "candy wrappers" in the form of US securities are even more so. If Ukraine, instead of the due payments on government bonds, showed Russia an "American finger", then the United States will show it all the more! Billions are "thrown into the abyss"!
    1. +1
      7 March 2018 00: 54
      Moscow managed to overtake China and take fourth place in the world in terms of reserves of the most precious metal.
      And is it so?
      Platinum, as it were, is more expensive, but there are metals, more expensive than platinum.
      Just so accepted. But in essence, what are mountains of gold?
      You eat it, you won’t, and you don’t eat in the tank.
      So wealth is certainly not measured in gold.
  2. +3
    17 March 2018 02: 28
    If you do not have gold, gold has you.
    Russia buys gold mainly from its gold miners, it is likely that physical gold to buy on the Hong Kong exchange is rather problematic. And on Londonskaya they sell "paper gold".
    - We bought several tons of gold on the exchange, here is a certificate. See how many degrees of protection, watermarks.
    -And where is the gold?
    -In the bank.
    - Have you seen this gold?
    -not
    -So it turns out you bought a certificate?
    - It turns out so, but it guarantees ...
    - morons b ...
    1. +1
      6 November 2018 11: 52
      Easy. It’s like with oil futures. They are an order of magnitude more than actually produced oil. Or as with plane tickets, which are sold more than there really are seats - in the expectation that someone will be late or change their mind. Similarly, certificates for gold can be issued much more than there is gold physically.
      Let me remind you how American funds, which had high indexes until 2008, suddenly declared themselves bankrupt.
      Should a crisis happen - they will shrug their hands and that’s all. You can go to court with your certificate. Maybe you’ll judge something someday. Only whether it will be possible to return its result is a big question.