One of the leading gold-buying central banks continues to purchase precious metal

Last quarter, Uzbekistan was ranked second among other central banks of developing countries in terms of the gold reserves growth.

Currently, the share of the precious metal takes almost two-thirds of the country’s total reserves of around $32 billion, and Uzbekistan's central bank has no intention to stop there, continuing to increase its reserves. Although initially it was planned to cut the share of gold below the level of 50%, and instead purchase the U.S. and Chinese sovereign debts.

Uzbekistan’s gold reserves are one of the largest among other developing countries tracked by the World Gold Council, even given the fact that about three years ago the central bank presented an idea to diversify the country’s reserves. As a result, its total amount has grown by approximately 25%. 

Behzod Hamraev, the Uzbek central bank’s deputy chairman, noted that policymakers considered an option of investing in Treasury bonds, but this plan wasn’t implemented due to the current situation in the market.