In the first month of 2020, the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) purchased 3.5 tons of gold, increasing roughly five times the level of a year earlier, the central bank said. In January, gold price stood at MNT 137,200 per gram. The precious metal purchase reached 597 kg during the same period of 2019. However, gold purchase totaled 15.2 tons last year, decreasing by 30 percent year-on-year. In the last seven years, gold has contributed over MNT 3.3 billion to the foreign exchange reserves. This number expected to reach USD 600-700 million this year, according to analysts. The 2.5 percent of discounted royalty on gold mining, which had become effective in 2012, expired on January 1, 2019. From then on, 5 to 10 percent royalty taxes on gold mining have been imposed on miners, driving in the central bank’s gold purchase down 71.6 percent year-on-year from January to March. Precious metals purchased in January included 1,747 kg of silver and 1,810 kg of gold. In terms of the location, the BoM’s branch in Darkhan-Uul province purchased 61 kg of precious metal, and the branch in Bayankhongor province bought 72 kg of precious metal.

Published Date:2020-02-06