As of September 1, Uzbekistan's gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $32.69bn, as reported by the Central Bank. However, during the month of August, international assets experienced a substantial decline of nearly $1bn. Moreover, compared to March, the reserves have witnessed a significant decrease of over $2.7bn, reaching a multi-year low.
One particularly concerning aspect is the amount of hard currency assets, which now sits at $8.7bn, marking a historic low in the entire history of statistics publication. Over the past month alone, hard currency reserves diminished by $860mn, persistently remaining below the $10bn threshold for four consecutive months.
Furthermore, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's deposits in the central banks of other nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have decreased by more than half, plummeting to $808mn. Simultaneously, the balances held in other foreign financial institutions dropped by $23.6mn, maintaining a level below $8bn. Since the beginning of the year, this decline has surpassed $2.5bn.
Conversely, Uzbekistan's gold reserves have experienced significant growth, reaching $23.43bn at the beginning of September. This represents a month-on-month increase of $410.5mn. Moreover, the physical volume of gold in reserves surged by 2.5%, totaling 12.1mn troy ounces (343 tons), compared to the previous month's 11.8mn troy ounces (334.5 tons). This increase in the volume of physical gold may be attributed to the drop in prices observed in the global precious metal market, extending until August 21, when prices reached $1,910 per troy ounce. Due to unfavorable market conditions, the Central Bank might have suspended the sale of gold abroad.
These developments underscore the complex dynamics at play in Uzbekistan's financial landscape, with a notable decrease in hard currency assets and a simultaneous accumulation of gold reserves, possibly as a response to volatile global market conditions.
Earlier Daryo reported that Navoi, a state-owned mining company in Uzbekistan, secured the fifth position in gold production by producing 1,425,000 ounces in the initial half of 2023.
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