One of the world's largest gold buyers is shifting to selling gold

The National Bank of Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest buyers of gold, is shifting to selling the metal to reduce its share of reserves, according to Bloomberg. The need for rebalancing has arisen due to Treasury yields rising to multi-year highs and the increased appeal of the dollar.

“We haven’t seen [Treasury] yields at these levels in a long time. This boosts the appeal of the dollar and, as a result, reduces interest in gold as an investment asset,” said Aliya Moldabekova, deputy chair of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, in an interview with Bloomberg. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose to a 24-year high last week.

The National Bank’s gold reserves rose to 386 metric tons after the regulator suspended sales in February of last year. Currently, gold accounts for about 78% of foreign exchange reserves—a figure that Moldabekova describes as uncomfortably high.

“With such a high proportion of gold, our reserves are starting to resemble a single-asset portfolio,” she noted. Moldabekova added that foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $66.4 billion at the end of September, must remain liquid.

According to Moldabekova, the National Bank is currently aiming to reduce the share of gold to 75% by the end of this year. Half of the reduction in the gold share will come from the sale of options, and half from the sale of physical gold, Moldabekova explained. If the price of gold falls below $4,000 per ounce, the share of gold in reserves could automatically drop to the target level, she clarified.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has the right to purchase all gold mined in the country—the world’s eighth-largest producer of the precious metal. According to data from the World Gold Council (WGC), the regulator ranked fourth among global gold buyers in the first eight months of 2026.

Gold has fallen in price by about 20% since late February, when the war between the U.S. and Iran began and disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East fueled inflation and pushed bond yields higher. In January, the price of gold peaked at $5,600 per ounce. As of 3:12 p.m. London time on October 12, gold was trading at $4,172.35 per ounce. Since June, its price has remained within the $4,000–$4,300 range.

“Given the continuing significant uncertainty, we still expect a slight increase in the price of gold,” Moldabekova noted. According to her, this is why the National Bank prefers not to plan too far ahead and to assess the situation after the share of gold has been reduced to 75%.

Massive gold purchases by central banks have sustained the rise in gold prices for many years. These institutions began building up their reserves following the global financial crisis, and the surge in purchases occurred after Western countries froze part of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves in 2022. By early 2026, central bank activity had already slowed noticeably: according to a revised estimate by the WGC, central banks purchased only 56.5 metric tons of gold in the first quarter—the lowest figure for that period in more than 15 years.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor