MOSCOW (Realist English). The State Duma is considering a bill giving the government the right to establish the procedure for the sale and purchase of gold by banks.
After the reduction of taxes on gold transactions for individuals, the demand for the yellow metal increased almost 10 times, and banks had a shortage of investment bullion.
The other day, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moisseev counted several hundred billion savings among the population of the Russian Federation, which are stored in dollars. “It is clear that all this should be changed for gold, which we ourselves produce,” the Finance Ministry urges. He also noted that the sale of gold to the population in Russia has increased 10 times, however, in his opinion, this is still not enough.
The idea of replacing all the dollars of natural persons with gold is very good and wise, but it does not fit in with the policy of the Russian financial bloc itself. Firstly, it is the refusal of the Central Bank to store foreign exchange earnings and the funds of the stabilization fund in gold. Foreign bonds of various types and currencies are still a priority for our monetary fetishists. Yes, now it’s not dollars, but other currency assets, but these are candy wrappers again.
“Russia’s frozen gold reserves of are denominated in dollars and euros, that is, the West does not even need to confiscate them. One might absolutely freely issue one’s currencies for the amount of the frozen funds. Gold reserves in all developed countries are mostly formed in gold. Imagine if the gold reserves of Russia would also be placed in gold. Then, firstly, no one would be able to lay their hands on them, and secondly, now the United States and Europe would have to tear money from their budgets with blood to help Ukraine. It would be a completely different situation …”, — reminds politician Oleg Tsarev.
Secondly, this is the recent (in October), absolutely idiotic unanimous refusal of the Russian Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to make it a priority to purchase the gold mined in Russia. The largest industry association of gold mining companies in the country, the Union of Prospectors of Russia, appealed through the Federation Council with a proposal to legalize the state purchase of all gold mined in the Russian Federation (about 300 tons per year) to the State Precious Metals Fund at a fixed price set by the Government of the Russian Federation.
However, both the Ministry and the Central Bank responded with an unequivocal refusal. Now domestic mines are forced to sell the net wealth extracted from their native bowels at a discount abroad. With a discount, because the Russian gold is under sanctions.
All this is happening against the backdrop of a clear long-term trend towards the accumulation of gold by the largest economies of the planet. Therefore, the joy of some observers about the sudden anti—dollar enlightenment of our financial bloc looks strained.
There is no enlightenment, since the head of the Ministry of Finance says one thing with his mouth, and at this time does the diametrically opposite with his hands. Here, it seems, not enlightenment, but logorrhea and dissociative disorder. Well, either this is malicious sabotage, which, of course, cannot be.
