Kazakhstan's National Bank has increased its gold reserves by more than 100 tonnes in the past few years, in a bid to reduce the country's reliance on the US dollar and neutralise currency risks.
The land-locked country, which is working to develop its gold mining industry through foreign investors and low government regulation, added an impressive 11.27 tonnes of gold to its stocks in the third quarter of 2021, bringing its total reserves to 402.38 tonnes. But in the first quarter of 2022, it changed course, rapidly selling off 34.26 tonnes to bring its reserves back down to 368.12 tonnes.
Despite later buying back 15.79 tonnes in the first half of 2022, Kazakhstan went on to offload twice as much in the second half of the year. After selling another 19.64 tonnes, the largest decrease of any country in the first quarter of 2023, Kazakhstan had 332.03 tonnes of gold.
That dropped again to 294.24 tonnes by the end of last year. In the latest twist to the saga, after adding 16.39 tonnes to its reserves in the first quarter of 2024, the nation sold off more gold than any other country in the second quarter. After this series of U-turns, Kazakhstan's total reserves now sit at 298.80 tonnes.