by Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and his G7 counterparts will agree to a ban on imports of new gold from Russia as part of an expansion of sanctions against Moscow, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
According to this source, the US Treasury Department will take a decision on Tuesday banning the import of new gold into the United States in a bid to further isolate Russia from the world economy in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. The US Treasury declined to comment.
Western sanctions against Russia have so far not directly targeted commercial shipments of gold, but many banks, shippers and refiners have stopped dealing with Russian metal since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Gold is a crucial asset for the Russian central bank, which has faced restrictions on access to some of its assets held abroad due to Western sanctions.
Shares of Russian gold mining companies traded abroad have crashed this year due to difficulties such as selling gold and repaying loans to sanctioned banks.
Russia produces about 10% of the gold mined in the world each year. Its gold holdings have tripled since the annexation of Crime in 2014. (French version Benjamin Mallet)