Kazakhstan's gold and FOREX reserves settled at $27.1 billion last month, a 0.7 billion increase from the country’s July reserves of $26.4 billion, Kazakhstan’s Central Bank revealed on Monday.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan disclosed this information on its currency and gold reserves:
Aug 31 $27.1 bln /July 31 $26.4 bln / June 30 $25.7 bln / May 31 $26.8 bln
April 30 $27.6 bln / March 31 $25.7 bln / Feb 28 $25.5 bln / Jan 31 $24.0 bln
Dec 31 $24.1 bln 2013 / Nov 30 $23.6 bln / Oct 31 $23.1 bln / Sept 30 $23.6 bln
Aug 31 $25.3 bln / July 31 $24.9 bln / June 30 $25.6 bln / May 31 $27.8 bln
April 30 $25.9 bln / March 31 $27.6 bln / Feb 28 $26.1 bln / Jan 31 $26.4 bln 2012
Dec 31 $27.7 bln / Nov 30 $29.1 bln / Oct 31 $28.5 bln / Sept 30 $29.6 bln
Aug 31 $29.0 bln / July 31 $28.5 bln / June 30 $31.8 bln / May 31 $33.8 bln
April 30 $34.5 bln / March 31 $31.8 bln / Feb 29 $34.8 bln
Kazakhstan is currently Central Asia’s largest economy and has over 3% of the recoverable crude services in the world. In addition, the country is one of the few nations who contributed to a record quarter for official gold buying in 2012. Kazakhstan added a total of 5.4 tons to its total gold reserves in the second quarter of 2012. As shown on BullionVault's gold price data, the precious yellow metal's prices during that time fluctutated at around $1,500 - $1,600 per ounce. Huge FOREX reserves may not pose a problem now, but it may cause trouble in the future if not maintained properly. China’s Сentral Bank has the biggest stash of FOREX reserves, and this poses a big problem for the country’s currency. When a country’s Central Bank accumulates reserves, it has to print more fiat money in order to buy its competing currencies (dollars, euros, yen, etc.).
The more fiat money a country has, the weaker it gets. The weaker it gets, the more prone the country is to inflation. To prevent inflation, central banks correct their actions by withdrawing an equivalent amount of money from the economy. China’s foreign exchange reserves are expected to exceed $4 trillion by the end of 2014.
