MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Finance Ministry said on Friday that the maximum possible stake in the National Wealth Fund has doubled to 60 percent as it restructures its rainy day fund to reduce so-called “unfriendly” currency dependence. Countries.

The ministry said the permitted share of gold in the NWF would be doubled to 40%. She said that the balances of the pound sterling and the Japanese yen had been reduced to zero.

Russia is using the National Water Fund, which reached $186.5 billion on Dec. 1, to finance its widening budget deficit this year.

“The Russian Ministry of Finance continues its continuous reduction of the share of currencies of ‘unfriendly’ countries in the asset structure of the National Wealth Fund,” the ministry said in a statement.

Russia regards any country it has sanctioned for its actions in Ukraine as “unfriendly” and has responded with countermeasures.

After the West banned Russia’s central bank from dealing in US dollars, euros and the pound sterling, and froze about half – or $300 billion – of its international reserves, Moscow hastened a campaign to convert its large reserves into more accessible currencies.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this trend will continue next year when Russia can resume transactions under the budget law – a scheme in which some profits from oil and gas sales are saved in foreign currency.

“In order to hedge exchange rate risks, we have always (renewed NWF) in foreign currency,” Siluanov said earlier this week.

“Among the currencies of ‘friendly’ countries, the yuan has the characteristics of a reserve currency to the fullest extent, in addition to sufficient liquidity in our domestic foreign exchange market,” he added.

The Moscow Stock Exchange, Russia’s largest exchange, said trading volumes in yuan and the ruble will exceed trading volumes in the dollar and ruble next year as financial ties between Moscow and Beijing continue to intensify.