Russia's massive gold sales amid war budget pressures

Russia’s gold reserves have continued to dwindle amid fiscal pressures from high government spending and declining energy revenues.

The Central Bank of Russia has reduced its gold holdings for four consecutive months through April 2026, marking the steepest decline in over two decades.

According to Kitco, as of 1 May 2026, the country’s gold reserves fell to 73.9 million troy ounces.

In metric terms, this represents a loss of 27.9 tonnes of gold between January and April 2026—the largest four-month drop since 2002.

The decline has brought Russia’s gold reserves to their lowest level since March 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine triggered Western economic sanctions against Moscow.

For over two decades, Russia has been one of the world’s largest gold buyers, with the Central Bank aggressively accumulating gold as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on the US dollar and Western financial systems.

Kitco reports that in the past 24 years, Russia has rarely sold large quantities of gold, with monthly declines exceeding 3.1 tonnes almost unheard of since the early 2000s.

Citing the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, the situation changed in late 2025 when the Russian government began using assets from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to cover budget deficits.

Gold sales have coincided with the disposal of foreign currency assets, particularly Chinese yuan.

Fiscal pressures are the primary driver behind these sales. Russia’s federal budget deficit reached 4.6 trillion roubles, or approximately $51.1 billion, by the end of March 2026.

This was driven by high military expenditure and weak oil and gas revenues earlier in the year.

Natalia Milchakova, an analyst at Freedom Finance Global, stated that gold sales were made to help cover the national budget deficit.