In August net gold and forex reserves of Kazakhstan increased to$2.104 bln

/IRBIS, Sep.5, 00/ - The National Bank of Kazakhstan informs in its press- release #027, that as of August 31 net gold and forex reserves of the country increased to $2,104 bln in current prices up from $2.029 bln as of July 31. It is said that "ЕAugust was marked by extension of growth trend in gold and forex reserves of NBK. In current prices net international reserves increased by 3.7%, or $75.1 mln. Despite the servicing of the Ministry of finance's external debt, forex purchase operations of NBK on the domestic market contributed to replenishment of net forex reserves by $75.8 mln. Gold assets decreased by $0.6 mln due to considerable fall of world gold prices by 0.9%. The National Bank informs that in August growth in net international reserves of the bank caused the monetary base to expand by 2.3%, or KZT2.8 bln. Following is the table that describes the dynamics of the international reserves of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and that of the monetary base during the last month (in current prices): ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As of August 31, 00 As of July 31, 00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net international reserves, mln USD 2,104.0 2,028.9 including Net foreign exchange assets 1,601.6 1,525.8 Gold 502.5 503.1 Monetary base, bln KZT 124.4 121.6 USD/KZT (at the end of period) 142.65 142.70 Price of gold (for 1 troy ounce, USD) 274.95 277.40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * net international reserves is the difference between gross reserves and the liabilities in foreign exchange.