The Russian central bank said on Thursday it had cut the share of dollars in its reserves to 50 percent, diversifying into euros as the greenback's standing as a reserve currency suffers.
Central bank chairman Sergei Ignatyev said Russia now held 40 percent of its $247 billion gold and forex reserves -- the world's fourth-largest -- in euros with the rest in sterling and yen.
The composition of Russia's currency reserves has been kept under wraps until now but central bank officials had said its euro holdings were 25-30 percent.
The new structure is more in line with the proposed currency allocation of Russia's $71.5 billion budget stabilisation fund, which is kept in roubles but will soon be converted into 40 percent U.S. dollars, 40 percent euros and 10 percent sterling.
Ignatyev also forecast outflows of speculative capital, after recent inflows had supported the rouble, resulting in a more moderate pace of forex reserves growth. Russian gold and forex reserves have grown by 36 percent so far this year. "In the near term there is a likelihood of speculative capital outflows, and we expect moderate forex reserves growth," Ignatyev told a banking conference in St Petersburg.