ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia's gold reserves have surged by a record 92 billion U.S. dollars over the past 12 months, driven by a sharp rise in global gold prices, local media reported Thursday.
According to data from the Central Bank of Russia analyzed by RIA Novosti, as of Nov. 1, the Bank of Russia held gold worth 299.8 billion dollars, up from 207.7 billion dollars a year earlier.
The surge was largely fueled by a rally in the gold market, where prices rose about 1.5 times over the year -- from roughly 2,700 to 4,000 dollars per troy ounce.
Despite the increase in value, the physical volume of Russia's gold holdings slightly declined by around 100,000 troy ounces, or about 3.1 tons, totaling 74.9 million troy ounces (2,329.7 tons) as of Oct. 1.
Gold now makes up 41.3 percent of Russia's international reserves. Meanwhile, the foreign currency portion of the reserves increased by just 0.5 percent over the same period, reaching 426 billion dollars. ■
