Major Russian fund to ditch dollar, buy euros, yuan, gold

Russia says it will completely remove the dollar from its rainy day fund, a move intended to counter U.S. pressure two weeks before a summit of the two countries’ leaders

MOSCOW -- Russia said Thursday it will completely remove the U.S. dollar from its rainy day fund, a move intended to counter American pressure two weeks before a summit of the two countries' leaders. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told an economic forum in St. Petersburg that the National Wealth Fund will turn its dollar-denominated assets into euros, yuan and gold. He said the shift will take a month, and once it's completed the fund will have 40% of its holdings in euros, 30% in yuan and 20% in gold, while the British pound and Japanese yen each will account for 5%. Siluanov said the fund currently has 35% of its assets in dollars and another 35% in euros.