俄羅斯央行去年黃金購買創紀錄

Russia accounted for about one-third of central banks’ gold purchases last year as the country spent more on the metal than at any time since the break-up of the Soviet Union amid escalating tensions with the west and a collapse in the value of the rouble.
Central banks around the world bought a net 461 tonnes of gold in 2014 — 13 per cent higher than the previous year and the second-highest level since the collapse of the gold standard in 1971 — as they continued to diversify their currency reserves following the financial crisis. They have added 1,800 tonnes to their holdings in the past six years.
Moscow’s shopping spree of the yellow metal was driven by a desire to shift away from a dependency on the dollar and provide support to the beleaguered rouble. Russia’s currency has lost half its value against the dollar in the past year on the back of the plunging oil price as well as western sanctions. The central bank’s foreign currency reserves, mainly US and European government bonds, have also fallen.
Russia’s central bank purchased 152 tonnes of gold worth $6.1bn at today’s prices — an increase of 123 per cent compared with the previous year — in the first 11 months of 2014, according to GFMS estimates.
Analysts also said Russia’s purchases might have been due to the buying of domestically produced gold that could not be easily sold overseas due to sanctions.
While Russia was a strong buyer this year, analysts say purchases could slow and the country could become a seller if it continues to liquidate its reserves to support the domestic currency.
During Russia’s last financial crisis in 1998, the central bank’s gold reserves fell by 118 tonnes, as the country’s foreign exchange holdings dropped below $10bn. Russia’s total international reserves amounted to $385bn at the end of December, compared with more than $500bn a year earlier.
“We are still a long way off Russia needing to sell gold,”Matthew Turner, analyst at Macquarie said.
The Thomson Reuters survey is based on data provided to the International Monetary Fund as well as its own estimates on central banks that do not provide data.

去年，俄羅斯央行的黃金購買量佔到全球央行的三分之一左右，在俄羅斯與西方關係日益緊張以及盧布匯率下挫之際，俄羅斯買入黃金的規模達到自前蘇聯解體以來最高。
2014年，全球央行總共淨購入461噸黃金，比2013年高出13%，爲自1971年“金本位”終結以來第二高位，在此次金融危機之後，各國央行繼續對其外匯儲備多元化。過去6年，全球央行已增持1800噸黃金。
此次俄羅斯大舉購買黃金的動因在於，俄羅斯希望擺脫對美元的依賴並支撐陷入困境的盧布。過去一年，由於油價下跌以及西方制裁，盧布兌美元匯率已下跌一半。俄羅斯央行的外匯儲備（主要爲美歐政府債券）也一直下滑。
據GFMS估計，2014年頭11個月，俄羅斯央行購入152噸黃金，比前一年高出123%，按照目前的價格價值爲61億美元。
分析師還表示，俄羅斯購買黃金的原因還可能是本國生產的黃金賣不出去，這些黃金因國際制裁在海外很難銷售。
儘管俄羅斯今年購買規模巨大，但分析師表示，其購買量將放緩，如果俄羅斯繼續出售其外匯儲備以支撐本幣，該國可能會出售黃金。
在1998年俄羅斯上次金融危機期間，俄羅斯央行的黃金儲備減少了118噸，該國外匯儲備降至100億美元以下。去年12月底，俄羅斯的外匯儲備總額達到3850億美元，前一年爲5000多億美元。
麥格理(Macquarie)分析師馬修•特納(Matthew Turner)表示：“俄羅斯出售黃金還是一個遙遠的事情。”
湯森路透(Thomson Reuters)的這項調查基於提供給國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)的數據以及該機構自己對不提供此類數據的各國央行的估計。