The Central Bank of Kazakhstan plans to reduce the proportion of gold reserves by about 3 percentage points.

According to foreign media reports, the Central Bank of Kazakhstan is shifting from being one of the world’s largest gold buyers to a gold seller, as officials from the Ministry of Finance step up efforts to rebalance reserve assets. In recent years, central banks around the world have driven gold prices sharply higher through large-scale purchases. However, as gold prices retreated after reaching historic highs, this upward momentum faced resistance. Last week, the yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond climbed to its highest level in 24 years. Aliya Moldabekova, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kazakhstan, said in an interview: “We have not seen such levels for a long time. This makes the US dollar an attractive choice, thus reducing the appeal of gold as an investment asset.” She added that the Central Bank of Kazakhstan hopes to reduce the proportion of gold in its total foreign exchange reserves by about 3 percentage points. Over the years, central banks have been steadily increasing their gold holdings. However, the assumption that monetary authorities would continue to have strong gold demand was challenged earlier this year after the outbreak of war in Iran. This conflict triggered a global wave of demand for the US dollar to pay for more expensive energy imports. According to data from the World Gold Council, Turkey and Russia were among the countries that reduced gold holdings earlier this year.