Kazakhstan Gold Reserves Continue To Climb
Kazakhstan Central Bank Gold Reserves Top 377 Tons.
Kazakhstan mined approximately 85 tons of gold in 2018 and added over 50 tons of that gold to reserves. The Central Bank of Kazakhstan’s gold buying binge has continued in 2019. The Central Bank of Kazakhstan added to her gold reserves for the 75th consecutive month in a row in February, adding 120,000 ounces (3.73 tons). With February’s addition to reserves, the Central Bank of Kazakhstan’s gold reserves grew to 356.4458 tons.
As of the end of February, Kazakhstan’s gold reserves stood at 356.4458 tons, or about 45 tons ahead of the United Kingdom’s 310.3 tons and about 33 tons ahead of the 322.9 ton gold holdings of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The next target for Kazakhstan’s gold reserves is Portugal’s 382.5 tons.
In 2016, the Central Bank of Kazakhstan added 36 tons of gold to her reserves and added 40 tons in 2017. At the current pace, Kazakhstan will add about 50 tons of gold in 2018 and at current rates of gold additions would surpass Portugal’s gold reserves in mid to late 2019 if Portugal adds no gold to her reserves.
Kazakhstan Gold Reserves 2015 – 2019
Kazakhstan’s gold holdings have increased from 198 tons to over 356 tons from January 2015 to February 2019.
The Central Bank of Kazakhstan’s gold reserves are remarkable given the size of its population and economy. Kazakhstan has a population of just 34 million, compared to the United Kingdom’s 66 million. The GDP of Kazakhstan was $160 billion in 2017, while according to the International Monetary Fund the GDP of the United Kingdom was $2.5 trillion. Kazakhstan’s gold reserves were worth $12.796 billion as of July 31, 2018 or over 8% of their GDP!
Kazakhstan Gold Mining Production Surges
Kazakhstan benefits from a domestic gold mining industry that is surging. According to the United States Geological Survey, Kazakh gold mining production was just 21 tons in 2008 and grew to 85 and 85 tons in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Kazakhstan’s Consistent Gold Buying
In 2018, Kazakhstan has added about 1.63 million ounces or 53 tons of gold. As a result of increasing gold reserves, gold as a percentage of reserves has risen from about 28% in 2015 to about 52% in 2019. The lower gold price towards the end of 2018, decreased the percentage of gold holdings in dollar terms even though overall gold tonnage has increased.
Central bank gold buying over the past five years has been concentrated in the central banks of China, Russia and Kazakhstan. The gold buying of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Central Bank of Russia has been substantial enough to vault both of them into the top ten gold holding nations of the world. The PBOC, however had not reported adding gold to reserves since October 2016, but reported adding about eight tons of gold to reserves in December 2018.
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This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.