Kyrgyz central bank increasing share of gold in reserves
BISHKEK. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan is increasing the share of gold in its international reserves, the central bank's deputy chairman, Zair Chokoyev said Thursday at a press conference on the implementation of monetary policy in the third quarter.
"The National Bank intends to increase the share of gold in the international reserves, and throughout 2012 it has been buying gold from local producers and will continue to do this in future," Chokoyev said.
He said this was being done due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates and risks related to changes in prices for foreign currency. However, he said it was too early to say how much gold the central bank will buy.
"We will look at the situation on the forex market, at changes in prices for gold and the volume of gold production, as well as at foreign currency exchange rates," Chokoyev said.
The national currency's exchange rate was relatively stable in the first nine months of 2012, he said. "The dollar's discount rate rose by 1.43% and amounted to KGS47.1484 per dollar on October 1. The volume of interbank operations in forex trading amounted to $677.76 million in the nine months," Chokoyev said.
He said gross international reserves stood at $1.968 billion at the end of September 2012, up by $133.3 million from a year earlier. The National Bank sold $43.05 million worth of foreign currency in January-September, and bought $4.8 million.
The loan portfolio of commercial banks operating in the country grew by 15.75% in the first nine months of 2012 to KGS36.135 billion (about $780 million), and deposits at commercial banks rose by 31.4% to KGS50.833 billion (about $1.2 billion), Chokoyev said.
Foreign ownership in the country's banks amounted to 36.5% at the end of September, Chokoyev said.