Russian gold reserves post large monthly gain to 50.9mn oz

From Oct. 1, the central bank tweaked its reserve rules so that gold held in unallocated bullion accounts at banks could be included in its reserves.

Russia has also been buying gold to try to diversify its reserves and make its economy more resilient to external pressure including sanctions.

The increase in Russia's gold holdings over October is the largest monthly increase for at least the past two years.

The central bank's website displays Russia's quarterly gold holdings, as opposed to monthly ones, up until the end of 2014. Russia had 45.5 million troy ounces of gold at the start of 2016, up from 38.8 million ounces a year earlier.