Russian Ctrl Bk Reserves March 7 $494.5B, Up $3.8B On Wk

Russian Ctrl Bk Reserves March 7 $494.5B, Up $3.8B On Wk

MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves rose $3.8 billion in the week to March 7 to a new record high of $494.5 billion, the central bank said in a statement.

That follows an increase of $6.8 billion in the previous week.

Russia's reserves rose a massive 57%, or $173.4 billion, in 2007. The majority of the rise came before the global credit crunch hit in August.

Large net capital inflows helped fuel a $114.3 billion rise in the reserves in the first seven months of the year, almost matching the $121 billion increase seen in the whole of 2006.

The central bank doesn't comment on developments in its reserve portfolio.

   Mar 7         $494.5 bln  RECORD HIGH
   Feb 29        $490.7 bln  PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH
   Feb 22        $483.9 bln
   Feb 15        $481.3 bln
   Feb 8         $481.0 bln
   Feb 1         $484.5 bln
   Jan 25        $479.4 bln
   Jan 18        $478.4 bln
   Jan 11        $477.7 bln
   Jan 4         $476.6 bln
   Jan 1         $476.4 bln
   Dec 28        $474.0 bln
 

Central bank Web site: http://www.cbr.ru

-By Will Bland, Dow Jones Newswires; (+7 495) 974 8055; william.bland@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2008 03:40 ET (07:40 GMT)


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