Kazakhstanis’ Interest in Gold Bars Is Waning

In August, Kazakhstanis bought 2,353 gold bars from banks and currency exchanges. This is 13.3% less than in July, when 2,712 units were bought. The weight of bars purchased in August amounted to 112.5 kilograms, the National Bank’s press office reports.

The financial regulator noted that gold bars are represented in five weights: 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 grams. The most popular among buyers is the 10 g bar. Its share of total sales volume is 26%, or 8,481 units. The 100 g bars are in second, with 7,248 units (22%), followed by 20 g bars with 7,020 units (21%), 5 g bars with 6,388 units (19%) and 50 g bars with 4,071 units (12%).

Almaty is the leading region for gold bullion purchasing (55% of the total volume of bars sold), followed by Atyrau (15%), Nur-Sultan (10%) and other regions.

The financial agency reported that gold bars are a long-term tool for investment and money saving. The main factor in ensuring the liquidity of the gold bullion market is the possibility of buyback by banks and non-bank exchange offices, with the same-day payout to the client.

The refined gold bullion sale and buyback program for the population was launched by the National Bank of Kazakhstan in 2017. Since then, 33,208 gold bars for a total weight of 1.19 metric tons have been sold. Since the launch of the program, 118 bullions for a total weight of 3.2 kilograms have been bought back.

As of 1:00 p.m. on September 14 (Nur-Sultan time), gold contracts with delivery in December are valued at $1,955.65 per troy ounce.