Russians began to buy gold due to the fall in the ruble exchange rate – media

Banks in the Russian Federation are experiencing increasing demand for gold bars from the population against the backdrop of rising inflation and sharp currency fluctuations. The Russian publication writes about it on September 19 Kommersant with reference to resources at several large financial institutions.

According to some market participants, banks are noticing a shortage of gold bars – this is what retail investors are buying.

At the same time, the largest banks claim that they have enough bullion, and a shortage may arise from small market players who buy gold from manufacturers to order from clients, without creating of reserves.

“We see an increase in demand for gold bars not only in the last two weeks, but also in the wider period. In the last three months, we have sold twice as many bars as in the same period last year,” said Tinkoff Bank.

The financial institution noted that gold protects capital from changes in the foreign exchange market when the ruble is unstable. The bank explained that interest in gold as a protective asset among the population could be pushed by “increasing inflation expectations.”

At the same time, VTB announced “stable interest” in the purchase of gold by the population – they said that they expect a moderate increase in demand until the end of the year. And Sberbank announced a slight increase in demand for gold bars compared to the last week of August.

Let’s recall that on September 15, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, due to inflationary pressure, raised the discount rate to 13% per annum.

As you know, in August the dollar exchange rate in Russia exceeded 100 rubles, and the euro was worth more than 111 rubles. These are the record levels since March 2022.