RBC, 29.11.2007, Moscow 10:49:30

Russia's gold and currency reserves stood at an all time high of 459.6bn on November 23, up 0.8 percent or $3.8bn from the previous figure. As reported earlier, between October 5 and November 16, the Bank of Russia's reserves surged $34.8bn, or over 8 percent, as the bank was buying up dollars on the home market. As a result, Russia has continued to close the gap separating it from the world's leaders in terms of reserves, China and Japan. China now boasts $1.434 trillion in reserves, up $101bn in the third quarter and nearly 45 percent in the first nine months of 2007. Japan's current reserves exceed $945bn.

On November 21, Alexei Ulyukayev, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said that Russia's reserves could rise to $470bn by the year-end, as they had been gaining momentum. However, just a week later, on November 28, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin said that Russia could see a $150bn rise in international reserves this year, which suggests that they could even drop in the near term as their total rise has already exceeded Kudrin's estimate.