Next year National Bank plans to buy 60 t of gold

ALMATY. KAZINFORM - Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Aliya Moldabekova announced data on transfers from the National Fund, Kazinform correspondent reports.

In February, the need for transfers from the National Fund to the budget amounted to KZT263 billion. In order to ensure a guaranteed transfer, USD462.5 million or KZT175 billion was sold.

She shared her opinion on the impact of foreign exchange interventions towards the general level of international reserves. According to preliminary data, reserves amounted to USD29.9 billion, having increased over the month by USD550 million. Foreign exchange reserves decreased by USD104 million and reached USD9.6 billion. This was fully offset by an increase in the value of gold portfolio by USD658 million. Decrease in foreign exchange reserves was caused by the repayment of the external debt and foreign exchange interventions. In turn, assets in gold increased due to an increase in its value from USD1,580 to USD1,626 per ounce.

In February, about 3.6 tons of gold were bought from local producers, 1.9 tons of which were sold to the National Fund as part of the new Concept.

Moldabekova added that g old acts as a safe asset and t he Bank will continue to purchase gold produced in the country. In 2019 about 57 tons of gold were purchased. This year it is planned to buy about 60 tons.