The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic plans to buy 1.5 tonnes of gold in 2016, up from 350 kilogrammes in 2015, news website Tazabek.kg reported citing the central bank’s Governor Tolkunbek Abdygulov as saying on December 10. The bank is usually required to buy 400 kilogrammes of gold annually to replenish its reserves, Abdygulov said.
The central bank is currently trying to contain the dollarisation of the country’s economy. In May, the bank started selling gold bullion weighing from 1gr to 100gr as an alternative to savings in dollars. People in Kyrgyzstan are switching to hard-currency assets as they lose faith in the Kyrgyz som, which has been on a rollercoaster in the past 12 months, losing a quarter of its value against the dollar. Gold bullion is currently available for the public at the National Bank headquarters in the capital city of Bishkek and Osh, in the southern part of the country.
Kyrgyzstan’s total gold reserves stood at 4.1 tonnes as of October, according to latest figures from the World Gold Council.
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