The the Bank of Russia bought 1 million ounces of gold in August alone. That boosted the country’s gold reserves to 42.4 million ounces as of Sept. 1, according to an announcement by the bank last Friday. The value of the central bank’s holdings rose to $47.68 billion from $44.96 billion a month earlier.

The Russian central bank’s gold purchases in August topped the 30.5 tons it purchased in March, and was the highest amount in six months.

Russia ranks as the seventh largest holder of gold reserves in the world behind the US, Germany, the IMF, Italy, France and China. Russia has more than tripled its reserves since 2005

In June, the Bank of Russia chairwoman announced plans to boost its depleted international reserves to $500 billion to hedge the crisis-struck economy against capital flight and new shocks, according to the Wall Street Journal.