In July, the world’s central banks increased their gold reserves by 37 tons. Uzbekistan remains among the leaders in the purchase of the precious metal, the World Gold Council reports.

The record holder was the Central Bank of Qatar with 15 tons, updating the monthly maximum purchases over the past 55 years. In total, the emirate has 72 tons of gold at its disposal – this is 10% of its international reserves and the largest tonnage in history.

Second place went to the Reserve Bank of India; it added over 13 tons to its gold reserves – the highest monthly purchase since September 2021 (19 tons). This lifts total gold reserves to 781 tons, up by 27 tons year-to-date.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan purchased 9 tons of gold in July. In total, at the end of July, there were 373 tons of precious metal in storage (61% of the reserve), 11 tons more than at the beginning of the year.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan was the only notable seller according to official reported data. It sold 11t in July, bringing its y-t-d net sales to just under 30 tons. Total official gold reserves now amount to 373 tons, accounting for 64% of total reserves. As reported by Bloomberg, the bank indicated that any further sales would be dependent on market conditions.

At the beginning of the year, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan actively sold gold and even became the world leader in this indicator in February. In January-March, deliveries of the precious metal abroad reached 25 tons, allowing the export earnings to double.

However, since April, the republic has stopped exporting gold. Moreover, the Central Bank has become one of the world’s main buyers of the precious metal. Back in June, the tonnage of gold reserves reached its maximum since the beginning of the year, but against the backdrop of low world prices, its value continues to fall.