For the first time since the start of the free sale, the cost of a 5-gram bar exceeded 3.9 million soums.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan updated on Thursday the prices of measured gold bars and commemorative coins.
The cost of a 5-gram bar reached 3,931,000 soums, a new high since the start of their sales in 2020. One gram per day has risen in price by 2.2% and now costs 786,200 soums.
The day before, world gold quotes also updated a record after the Fed announced the end of the cycle of raising rates. For a troy ounce of the precious metal at the daily peak, $2,080 was offered.
Since the beginning of December 2022, gold has been steadily rising in price, in March for the first time stepping over the mark of 760 thousand soums per gram or 3.8 million soums for a 5-gram bar. However, after that, prices fluctuated, then updating records, then dropping to 3.7 million soums at a minimum.
The commemorative coins also set a price record. For example, 15 grams of a gold coin offer now costs 11,904,000 soums.
The Central Bank began selling commemorative gold coins to the public in 2018, followed by gold bars two years later. Individual buyers were allowed to take them out of Uzbekistan, subject to conditions.
These steps were explained by the desire to reduce the dependence of the Uzbek economy on foreign currency. In addition, according to experts, access to gold will expand investment opportunities and help secure savings.
As of September 2021 (latest publicly available data), people purchased 5,100 bars and 2,500 coins. The total volume of gold in them amounted to 168.6 kg.
