Russia, Kazakhstan expand gold reserves for fourth month

15:40, 25 February 2013

ASTANA. February 25. KAZINFORM Russia and Kazakhstan expanded gold reserves for a fourth straight month in January, while Azerbaijan acquired bullion for the first time in more than a decade as central banks sought to diversify their assets.

Russian holdings climbed 12.2 metric tons to 970 tons last month after gaining 8.5 percent over 2012, according to International Monetary Fund data. Kazakhstan's hoard grew 1.5 tons to 116.8 tons, following last year's 41 percent expansion, data on the IMF website showed. Azerbaijan bought 1 ton after reporting no holdings since 1999 and Mexico sold 0.1 ton.

Gold fell for a fourth month in January, with analysts from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Credit Suisse Group AG calling an end to the metal's 12-year bull run as data showed the global economy improving. Gold slumped to a seven-month low last week as investors cut holdings in exchange-traded products. Central banks will again be strong buyers this year after they boosted purchases 17 percent to 534.6 tons last year, the most since 1964, according to the London-based World Gold Council, Kazinform refers to Bloomberg.

"Central-bank buying remains one of the bullish factors for gold," Jiang Yangjing, an analyst at China International Capital Corp., said by phone from Beijing. "Prices at the moment are driven largely by macroeconomic data."

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