March 25, 2015

Kazakhstan Extends Gold Buying Spree as Russia Maintains Assets

(Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan boosted gold reserves for a 29th straight month as Russia and Ukraine maintained holdings, the International Monetary Fund said. Tajikistan increased assets.

Kazakhstan held 196.1 metric tons in February, according to data on the IMF website. That’s up from 193.5 tons in January, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. Russia, the fifth-biggest holder, kept its reserves at 1,207.7 tons.

Bullion dropped last month by the most since September as investors expected the Federal Reserve would soon move to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. Russia failed to buy for a second month after adding gold from April through December. Central banks increased reserves the past five years, a reversal from two decades of selling since the late 1980s.

Ukraine’s assets were unchanged at 23.9 tons, according to data on the IMF website and compiled by Bloomberg, while Tajikistan boosted holdings to 9.5 tons from 8.9 tons. Turkey held 510.3 tons from 514.9 tons a month earlier, the data show.