Uzbekistan’s official reserves topped $34.56 billion as of January 1, 2024, recording an increase by $1.67 billion in December, the Central Bank said in a report.
Last month, foreign currency reserves increased by $751.3 million. The physical volume of gold increased from 11.6 million to 11.9 million troy ounces (+9.3 tons), and the value of gold reserves increased by $906.3 million.
At the same time, at the end of 2023, the country’s “financial cushion” as a whole decreased by $1.2 billion, from $35.77 billion to $34.56 billion. Foreign currency reserves fell by $2.27 billion to $9.37 billion.
The value of gold reserves increased by $1.57 billion to $23.06 billion, but the physical volume of the precious metal decreased by 0.8 million troy ounces (-24.8 tons) to 11.9 million troy ounces (370. 1 ton). This is due to the fact that over the year, an ounce of gold has risen in price from approximately $1,815 to $2,066 (+13.8%).
It is noteworthy that the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves are declining at the end of the year for the first time since 2018, when there was a decrease of $1.55 billion (to $27.2 billion). After this, there was an increase in reserves - 2019 (+$2.7 billion), 2020 (+$4.38 billion), 2021 (+$105.5 million), 2022 (+$1.5 billion).
In October and November, Uzbekistan was the largest gold seller in the world, selling a total of 22 tons of gold.
According to the Statistics Agency, in 11 months of 2023, Uzbekistan exported gold worth a record $8.15 billion, which is by 2.3 times more than the same period last year.
