The Central Bank of Russia sells gold reserves for the first time: what does this threaten the economy?.

According to ТСН: The Central Bank of Russia has decided for the first time to sell gold from its reserves on the domestic market. This move aims to strengthen the ruble and cover budget expenditures. However, the increased use of reserves may create long-term risks.

The Russian Central Bank has begun direct sales of gold, opening access to this precious metal for banks, state enterprises, and individual investors. For the regulator, this is considered a forced measure:

gold is becoming a tool to support the ruble, ensure corporate liquidity, and cover budget needs

Until 2025, the Central Bank of Russia sold gold only to the Ministry of Finance to replenish its own reserves. Now the regulator is forced to move to sales, as the National Welfare Fund is rapidly losing liquid assets: the figure dropped from $113.5 billion in 2022 to $51.6 billion in 2025. Over this period, the volume of gold in the fund decreased by 57% — from 405.7 tons to 173.1 tons.

According to intelligence estimates, in 2025, Russian gold sales could reach $30 billion (approximately 230 tons), and in 2026 – at least $15 billion (115 tons). Such a large-scale sell-off accelerates the depletion of reserves, which are already under pressure from sanctions and limited access to currency resources.

Although selling gold allows Russia to quickly replenish the budget and temporarily stabilize the ruble, it creates serious long-term risks: deepens the deficit of liquid reserves, makes state finances dependent on further asset sales, and restricts opportunities for future interventions.

As noted by the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service, the actual 'eating away' of reserves, including gold that has remained untouched for decades, indicates how constrained Russia's financial space has become under sanction pressure.

It is worth noting that the Russian authorities have started using monetary emission — in particular, launching the Central Bank's 'printing press' to cover the budget deficit, which this year will reach almost 6 trillion rubles. According to the Gaidar Institute, the 'hole' in the budget is being covered by mass issuance of government bonds. The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has already planned a deficit for 2026-2028 of over 10 trillion rubles, which will be financed mainly through domestic government loans. The deficit forecast for the current year has been raised fivefold due to a 20% drop in oil and gas revenues.

Thus, selling gold may provide short-term funding, but over time may lead to serious economic problems. The situation surrounding gold reserves reflects the overall state of the Russian economy, which faces significant challenges from international sanctions and internal financial difficulties. What consequences this will have for the stability of the Russian economy will only be shown by time.