Uzbekistan's gold, foreign exchange reserves drop to minimum since 2020

As of October 1, the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves of Uzbekistan amounted to $31.03 billion, according to the Central Bank.

During September, the volume of international assets decreased by $1.65 billion. Compared to March, gold and foreign exchange reserves fell almost by $4.4 billion, dropping to their lowest level since March 2020, kun.uz reports.

The amount of foreign currency assets amounted to $7.39 billion - a record low for the entire period of publication of statistics. Over the past month, foreign currency reserves fell by $1.3 billion and have remained below $10 billion for five months in a row.

The republic’s gold reserves also decreased slightly, amounting to $23.09 billion at the beginning of October. Compared to the previous month, it lost its value by $335 million.

However, the tonnage of gold in reserves increased by less than 2% - 12.3 million troy ounces (348.69 tons) versus 12.1 million troy ounces (343 tons) a month earlier. The increase in the physical volume of gold may be associated with a fall in prices on the world's precious metal market (the cost of gold dropped to around $1,800 per troy ounce). Due to unfavourable market conditions, the Central Bank could suspend gold exports.