Kazakhstan's central bank began to change its strategy to manage its foreign exchange reserves by selling gold reserves, where previously Kazakhstan was one of the world's largest buyers of gold. This step was taken as the attractiveness of the United States dollar increased and US government bonds offered high yields. On the other hand, gold prices experienced pressure after peak conditions at the beginning of the year

Quoted from Bloomberg, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kazakhstan Aliya Moldabekova said that the spike experienced in US bond yields made the dollar more attractive compared to gold, which does not provide interest income. The Central Bank of Kazakhstan plans to reduce the share of gold in total foreign exchange reserves from around 78% to 75% by the end of 2026.

Currently, Kazakhstan's gold reserves have reached 386 tonnes, while the country's total international reserves were recorded at around US$66.4 billion at the end of September 2026.

According to Moldabekova, the high share of gold makes Kazakhstan's reserves concentrate too much on one type of asset. In fact, the central bank must ensure that reserves remain liquid to meet foreign exchange needs. The adjustment is planned through physical gold sales and options transactions, each accounting for about half of the gold exposure reduction measure.

Interestingly, Kazakhstan previously actively increased its gold reserves. Based on data from the World Gold Council (WGC), the country's central bank still recorded net purchases of around 36 tons during January-August 2026.

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