Major local banks have reported a surge in demand for gold as...

Major local banks have reported a surge in demand for gold as Russians rushed to invest in the bullion and coins to protect their savings. The country's central bank even had to temporarily halt the country's own gold purchases from local banks to leave the inventory for regular consumers. In March Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law scrapping the 20% value-added tax on metals purchases. The move was designed to encourage the buying of precious metals over foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro.