It appears the former President Trump was correct and Vladimir Putin is “savvy” and a “genius” after all. . .
The Financial Time reports that “it might already be too late for sanctions to restrain Vladimir Putin”:
Opinion: It might already be too late for sanctions to restrain Vladimir Putin. He’s got some insulation from short-term risks through foreign exchange reserves and appears to be getting more rather than less reckless https://t.co/kn5LvXPecQ
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) February 24, 2022
This “insulation” is “huge reserves” of gold, not U.S. dollars:
The sanctions being talked about involve Russian capital. Russia has huge reserves and can shrug off any financial connection to the US
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) February 21, 2022
Welp:
Russia has reserves of over $630bn in its central bank to guard against such economic shocks.
— n.a (@thenanaaba) February 22, 2022
“Looks as if Kremlin is well prepared for sanctions”:
Looks as if Kremlin is well prepared for sanctions: #Russia's FX reserves has hit ATH at $640bn. pic.twitter.com/ZY9KDFRKbe
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) February 22, 2022
Over the years, Putin has reduced his holdings of U.S. government bonds and moved into gold:
To make himself independent of the West, Putin has stopped investing FX reserves in US govt bonds. #Russia now holds only $3.9bn in US govt bonds. The volume used to be $176bn in 2010. Putin has shifted many reserves into #gold. pic.twitter.com/WnsKAdJK5c
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) February 22, 2022
And this means as the price of gold goes up, so do his reserves.
“Russia feels no pain, just profit”:
Biden wants to impose economic sanctions. Russia produces 10 million barrels of oil per day. Russian gold reserves are 2,300 tonnes. If oil goes up $10 per barrel, Russia adds $3 billion per month. If gold rises 10%, Russia adds $15 billion. Russia feels no pain, just profit. pic.twitter.com/AosLzMWAS2
— Jim Rickards (@JamesGRickards) February 22, 2022
“Can anyone in the White House do fourth-grade math?”:
Can anyone in the White House do fourth-grade math? The value of Putin's gold reserves (2,300 metric tonnes) went up about $3.0 billion in the past 30 minutes. The so-called sanctions are making Russia rich. pic.twitter.com/ZrbXbYA9jL
— Jim Rickards (@JamesGRickards) February 24, 2022
Do we *really* want to know the answer to that?
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