In first half of April net gold and hard currency reserves of Kazakhstan increased to $2,510.9 mln

/IRBIS, Apr 17, 01/ - The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) informs that in first half of April 2001 gross gold and hard currency reserves of the country, excluding the money of the National fund of Kazakhstan, increased to $2,510.9 mln at current prices in comparison with $2,452.0 mln as of March 31, 2001. The press release reads that in current prices net international reserves increased by 2.4%, or $58.9 mln. The currency purchases of the National Bank on domestic currency market, as well as the inflow of currency into the Ministry of Finance accounts in the National Bank stimulated the growth of net hard currency reserves by $58.1 mln. Gold assets grew by $0.8 mln due to the transactions conducted by the National Bank on both international and internal markets, while its price fell on world markets by 0.3%. Decerase in net internal reserves of the National Bank in the first half of April 2001 caused the monetary base shrank by 3.3%, or KZT4.3 bln. Following are the data on the dynamics of the international reserves of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and that of the monetary base as of April 16, 2001: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As of As of As of April 16, 01 March 31, 01 March 15, 01 ----------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ Net international reserves, mln USD 2,510.9 2,452.0 2,440.6 including: hard currency assets 2,034.1 1,976.0 1,948.2 gold 476.8 476.1 492.4 Monetary base, bln KZT 126.5 130.8 130.2 USD/KZT (at the end of period) 145.55 145.45 145.45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net assets in hard currency is the difference between gross assets and liabilities in hard currency