Russia Triples Gold Reserves in Preparation for Full-Scale Economic War with the United States
Russia has tripled its gold holdings to the largest in the Putin-era in preparation for a global economic war with the United States.
By Jay Syrmopoulos
TheFreeThoughtProject.com
October 21, 2017
The Central Bank of Russia has more than doubled the pace of its gold purchases, and tripled its gold reserves—from around 600 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes—bringing its international gold reserves to the highest level since Putin became President 17 years ago, according to the World Gold Council.
The impetus for the massive increase in Russian gold reserves is their desire to break away from the hegemony of the U.S. petrodollar and dollar-based payment systems. Currently, over 60 percent of global reserves and 80 percent of global payments are denominated dollars, according to James Rickards, author of Currency Wars.
The Central Bank of Russia has more than doubled the pace of its gold purchases, and tripled its gold reserves—from around 600 tonnes to 1,800 tonnes—bringing its international gold reserves to the highest level since Putin became President 17 years ago, according to the World Gold Council.
The impetus for the massive increase in Russian gold reserves is their desire to break away from the hegemony of the U.S. petrodollar and dollar-based payment systems. Currently, over 60 percent of global reserves and 80 percent of global payments are denominated dollars, according to James Rickards, author of Currency Wars.
Additionally, the U.S. is the only country with veto power at the International Monetary Fund, known as the global lender of last resort. Thus, one of the most crucial weapons wielded by Russia, in its war to free itself from the hegemony of the petrodollar, is gold.
The reason gold is so critical is that it cannot be manipulated by U.S.-based economic warfare, as it cannot be frozen out as other forms of digital and paper fiat can be.
Gold can simply be loaded onto pallets and shipped to another state to make a payment, thus bypassing targeted economic sanctions that are often used by the United States as a means of attempting to force geopolitical compliance by Russia and other countries. The strategic significance of gold is so great, that even when oil prices and Russian financial reserves were collapsing in 2015, they continued to acquire gold.
In fact, during the second quarter of 2017, Russia accounted for 38 percent of all gold purchased by central banks. The massive increase in Russian gold reserves has taken place while simultaneously abstaining from purchasing foreign currency for more than two years.
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