Tashkent, Dec. 16, 2020. /Kabar/. As of Dec. 1, official reserve assets of Uzbekistan amounted to USD 32.9 billion, while international reserves – to USD 31.9 billion, the Central Bank of the republic said.
The country's reserves are still very poorly diversified - almost all of them are kept in gold (USD 18.4 billion) and foreign currency (USD14 billion). This problem is planned to be solved by buying U.S. Treasury bonds.
Gold and foreign exchange reserves have declined for the fourth month in a row. In December, it was due to gold - the volume increased by 0.2 million troy ounces, but the value decreased by almost USD 500 million. Gold is an asset that is rising in price in a crisis. After the news about the vaccines, the metal started getting cheaper, which affected the country's reserves.
Reserves, among other things, are considered a "safety cushion" of the country - they are needed as a buffer in case of adverse external shocks, and the adequacy of the reserves directly depends on the nature of these shocks. The current reserves are enough to finance about 20 months of imports.
This is much higher than the figure recommended by international organizations for developing countries, which is 3 months.
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