Kazakhstan increased its gold holdings by 16% to 7.13mn ounces in 2015, the IMF said in a report published on January 27. At the end of 2014, the country’s gold reserves stood at 6.17mn ounces.
Kazakhstan has been increasing gold reserves for 39 months amid instability on the global financial markets. Since 2011, gold purchases have been supported by legislation, which gives the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK), the central bank, a priority right to buy all gold produced in the country. The data also demonstrate that Kazakhstan, along with Russia, China and Turkey, perceives gold as a safe haven in the current uncertainty.
Kazakhstan FX/gold reserves stood at $28bn as of the end of 2015, of which gold accounted for nearly 27%. In comparison, in August 2011, the share of gold in the NBK’s FX/gold reserves stood at less than 10%. The rise of gold is connected to a physical increase in reserves and the high price of the metal in the global markets.
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