Special to WorldTribune.com

Russia is in the midst of a gold rush.

A recent spending spree by Moscow’s central bank has made Russia the world’s top gold buyer.

Moscow added 356,000 ounces of the precious metal to its reserves in February, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Russia continued to hoard gold last week, increasing its foreign reserves by another $5.8 billion to $387 billion.

China has also consistently been adding more gold to its reserves, and is said to have bought about 320,000 ounces in February.

By contrast, Canada — one of the world’s top 10 gold producing countries — has recently wound down its gold reserves to basically nothing after a multi-year strategy of selling them off in favor of hoarding other countries’ currencies.

According to the Department of Finance’s official international reserves data released in early March, Canada’s gold reserves were down effectively to $0 as of the end of February.

According to the latest figures from the World Gold Council, despite its recent spending spree, Russia remains in 7th place overall in terms of reserves, slightly behind China and significantly below the U.S., which held about 8,133 tonnes of gold, or 72 percent of its reserve, by the end of February.

  International Monetary Fund, Russia now world’s top gold buyer after surpassing China in February, World Gold Council, WorldTribune.com