Russian Central Bank redistributed dollars into gold
Due to sanctions from the West, the Russian Central Bank redistributed dollar assets into gold, thus ranking fifth in the world in terms of reserves, Forbes reports.
Over the past 5 years, the regulator has spent about $40 billion on metal purchases and is now starting to reduce spending. During the first eleven months of last year, the regulator bought 149 tons of gold, which is 44% less than in 2018. It is planned that the annual purchases will be minimal compared to the past six years. But at the end of 2019, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that it is possible to buy metal at the expense of the National Wealth Fund, arguing that gold is the most reliable long-term investment.
Financial assets in the world are currently the most volatile due to the panic of many market participants. Gold is one of the few investment tools that can skyrocket in price as a result of the pandemic.
Amid the volatility of stock markets, their participants are looking for safe options to save their funds, which is why the United States dollar has become the leader in the currency markets. However, in fact, the precious metal is ahead of the asset by 5.3%.
The metal rose in price by 35% against the Russian ruble. Recently, it has been lacking in markets due to supply chain constraints.
The coronavirus is the worst thing that could happen to the debt-laden Western financial system. Before the virus hit the equity and debt markets, there was a financial bubble. Financial institutions are confident that the debt burden of many countries will increase much faster than before.
Despite the support of the economies by the regulators, global growth has already contracted. The leading marginal consumers of US stocks were American corporations and their executives, which issued bonds and increased debt in order to buy back their own companies. For this reason, the S&P P/E ratio rose to 21 points, now it is down to 15.1. In this way, they made their own economy vulnerable to external shocks.
Investors need to remember the old adage that the king is the one who has money in times of crisis. For centuries, rulers have bought gold instead of securities or currencies, realizing that they are burdened with debt. So perhaps all roads lead to gold.