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.
Saudi private companies have captured 82% of contracts signed by the Saudi Development Fund over the past three years, with a total value exceeding $3bn, according to Abdulmohsen Al-Khayyal, ... more
Construction work on the proposed Trans-Afghan Railway could be under way within six months, while the project could cost around $4.6bn to deliver and cut shipping transit times from Uzbekistan to ... more
Uzbekistan’s banking industry is becoming more resilient, with the sector underpinned by ongoing structural reforms, stronger regulation and improving governance, ... more