MOSCOW, September 7 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves (or international reserve assets) increased by 11.1 billion U.S. dollars (or 2.08 percent) in August 2011, the Central Bank of Russia said in its regular report on Wednesday.
As of September 1, 2011, the country’s international reserves made up 545.012 billion U.S. dollars, as compared to 533.905 billion U.S. dollars as of August 1, the bank said.
As of January 1, 2011, the country’s international reserves amounted to 479.379 billion U.S. dollars, the bank reaffirmed.
In August, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, which include foreign currency assets, the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and the country’s reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went up by 6.012 billion U.S. dollars (1.2 percent) to reach 496.366 billion U.S. dollars, the Central Bank’s report said. Gold reserves grew by 5.005 billion U.S. dollars (11.5 percent) in the month under review, and totalled 48.645 billion U.S. dollars.
In the first eight months of the year, the country’s international reserve assets increased by 65.633 billon U.S. dollars (roughly 13.7 percent) and reached 545.012 billion U.S. dollars as of September 1, the bank said.
The country’s international reserve assets reached their maximum worth 598.1 billion U.S. dollars on August 8, 2008, the bank reaffirmed. In the crisis period, the reserves dropped to 376 billion U.S. dollars (in the middle of March 2009).