Russia will like Treasuries even if U.S. rating cut

U.S. Treasuries bonds will not become a less attractive investment even if the U.S. sovereign credit rating is cut, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The U.S. rating can be revised (downwards) but ... I think this will not reduce the attractiveness of U.S. Treasury bonds, they will still be among the most liquid, Russian agencies quoted Kudrin as saying.

Russia holds the world's third largest gold and forex reserves, worth around $400 billion, and some 30 percent of the money is kept in U.S. Treasuries.

Earlier this week the dollar rallied after sources told Reuters that the central banks of China, Japan, India and South Korea would shrug off losses from a U.S. downgrade and continue to buy Treasuries to keep markets stable.

Fears of a U.S. downgrade grew after Moody's cut Japan's top credit rating in May and Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on Britain's rating.

Russia last year unwound its holdings of U.S. agency bonds, largely by not replacing maturing paper, but has stuck by its Treasury holdings.

Officials have said there are no plans to change the currency composition of reserves, although the central bank has been increasing the share of safe haven gold.

(Writing by Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Keiron Henderson)