The international reserves of the Republic of Uzbekistan in December 2022 increased by 6.9% and as of January 1, 2023 reached 35,767.5 million US dollars. The gold reserve broke the record for the entire time of keeping statistics, despite the decrease in the physical volume of the precious metal.

The official reserve assets of Uzbekistan as of January 1, 2023 amounted to $35.77 billion, having increased by $2.33 billion (+6.9%) over the past month, follows from the data of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Reserves reached the highest level since April 2022.

The increase was mainly due to an increase in foreign currency reserves by $1.71 billion to $11.64 billion.

The physical volume of gold fell by 0.1 million troy ounces (3.1 tons) to 12.7 million troy ounces (about 360 tons). At the same time, gold reserves added $600.8 million in value to $23.06 billion, which is an absolute record since the publication of statistics (since 2013).

Quotes of gold on world exchanges continue to grow against the backdrop of the depreciation of the dollar against world currencies. In particular, at the beginning of the year, futures for this precious metal exceeded $1,850 per ounce for the first time since June last year, although back in early December they were at $1,776.

In connection with the rise in gold prices, Uzbekistan in December for the first time in seven months resumed the export of this precious metal, selling products worth $556.7 million.

In general, over the year, the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves increased by $628.3 million – from $35.14 billion to $35.77 billion.

Available reserves significantly exceed the country’s imports for January-November 2022, which amounted to $27.6 billion. According to the recommendations of international organizations for developing countries, reserves should cover at least three months of imports.