In January, Russia continued to increase its gold reserves with a large purchase of more than one million troy ounces, Vesti.ru reports.

In January, Russia increased its gold reserves by 37 metric tons, equivalent to more than a million troy ounces, Vesti.ru reported.

As a whole, Russia’s foreign reserves grew by four percent last month, and stood at $393.6 billion on February 10 according to Sputniknews.

The January purchase followed a pause in December, when Russia didn’t buy any gold. Prior to the hiatus, Russia consistently increased its gold reserves. In November 2016 it bought 31 metric tons, and in October bought 48 tons, the largest purchase since 1998.

In 2016 as a whole, the Russian central bank bought 6.4 million troy ounces of gold, or around 200 metric tons of the precious metal. The previous year, the central bank increased its gold reserves by 206 metric tons.