National Fund Assets

Kazakhstan's international reserves, including the National Fund's assets, totaled $90.5 bln. as of the end of November.

Reserves increased by $600 mln. over the month. This was stated at the government session by the Chairman of the National Bank Yerbolat Dossayev.

The Chairman of the Financial Regulator noted that in November, gold and currency reserves decreased by $1.1 bln., to $32.5 bln. According to him, this was mainly due to a decrease in the price of gold (from $1,876 thou. to $1,772 thou.).

"In December, the price of gold rose from $1.771 to $1.859 per troy ounce on the back of progress in agreeing a new stimulus package in the US Senate for $916 bln. and further spread of the coronavirus around the world. Price increase partially restored the fall in the gold portfolio in November, which as of December 10 amounted to $23.05 bln., which provided a 4.74% increase in the portfolio since the beginning of the month," he said.

Mr. Dossayev also said that the National Fund's assets in November amounted to $58 bln., with increase by $1.7 bln. (+3%) over the month against the background of a significant increase in the stock market due to reports on the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines being developed and positive quarterly reports from leading global companies.

"Investment income of the National Fund since the beginning of 2020 amounted to $3 bln., or 5.6%," he added.

Recall that in October, the National Fund's assets decreased by $1 bln., and in September - by $1.36 bln. In October, the National Bank's gold and currency reserves decreased by $200 mln. to $33.6 bln., mainly due to the payment of public debt and intervention.

Since 2015, the share of gold in the country's reserves has been actively growing; in October this year, it reached 69.1% of the total amount of gold reserves.

A significant increase in the share of gold is associated with active purchase of precious metal by the National Bank of Kazakhstan and diversification of the portfolio.

Gold is increasingly recognized as the most significant and promising investment, as evidenced by the marked growth in global investment demand: from 2001 to 2019, the indicator increased by an average of 14% per year, and the price of gold jumped almost four times during this period.

In most developed countries of the world, gold occupies the main part of the reserves. Thus, for example, the share of gold in the US reserves is 79.4% (8.1 thou. tons), 76.6% in Germany (3.4 thou. tons), 71.1% in Italy (2.5 thou. tons), 66.7% in France (2.4 thou. tons). These countries are leaders in gold reserves.