CB Chairman comments on allegations that Uzbekistan “sold a lot of gold”

Central Bank (CB) Chairman Mamarizo Nurmuratov answered a question about how gold exports, which have been at record levels this year, could help the country’s economy.

“When the change in the price of gold on the world market was around 30%, our economy has received 30% more revenue. To date, our producers have received an additional 24 trillion soums.

On the issue of selling and buying gold, I read on social media that “Uzbekistan has sold so much gold in a month”. One thing needs to be understood correctly. This is the policy of the Central Bank. Our goal in selling gold is that we have our own forecasts. When the price rises, we aim to sell it and, to a certain extent, bring additional income to our economy through the Central Bank.

But linking this to exports is a bit misleading in some ways. When we talk about exports, we mainly consider direct exports of economic entities.

If the price of gold falls and we expect it to rise later, we try to buy gold. This is a normal situation that central banks do.

We have the power to change the composition of our gold and foreign exchange reserves and allocate it independently. If the price of gold falls in the world market and we expect the price of gold to rise in the future, we may not sell gold. This means that the total volume of our gold and foreign exchange reserves will not change, only the composition will change. The Central Bank has organized its work on this principle,” Kun.uz correspondent quoted the CB Chairman as saying.

In July 2020, Uzbekistan was an absolute leader in gold sales in the world, the country sold 11.6 tons of gold.

In early September, Uzbekistan’s gold and foreign exchange reserves fell for the first time since May. As of September 1, the country’s official reserve assets amounted to $34.6 billion, international reserves – $33.8 billion. During the pandemic, Uzbekistan actively sold its gold. Otabek Nazirov, director of the Capital Market Development Agency, said that by selling gold and foreign exchange reserves, the funds could be used to save the country’s economy and prevent an increase in unemployment.

Uzbekistan’s official reserve assets decreased by $1.2 billion compared to September and amounted to $33.4 billion as of October 1, while international reserves amounted to $32.7 billion.