Kazakhstan Gold Reserves Rise Again in August
Kazakhstan Central Bank Gold Reserves Top 331 Tons.
The Central Bank of Kazakhstan added to her gold reserves for the 71th consecutive month in a row in August, adding 150,000 ounces (nearly 4.67 tons). With August’s addition to reserves, the Central Bank of Kazakhstan’s gold reserves grew to 331.252 tons.
As of the end of August, Kazakhstan’s gold reserves stood at 331.252 tons, or about 21 tons ahead of the United Kingdom’s 310.3 tons and about eight 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 – 2018
Kazakhstan’s gold holdings have increased from 198 tons to over 331 tons from 2015 to August 2018.
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 69 and 70 tons in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Kazakhstan’s Consistent Gold Buying
So far in 2018, Kazakhstan has added about 27 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 43.0% in 2018. The lower gold price the past three months has 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 has not reported adding gold to reserves since October 2016.
This article by BGASC is not, and should not be regarded as, investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular course of action.