National Bank Reports 4.8-fold Increase in Sales of Gold Bars in First Three Months

The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) sold 25,978 gold bars weighing a total of 883 kilograms, a 4.8-fold year-on-year increase, in the first three months of 2008, a source at the NBB told BelaPAN.

The reason for the “steadily high” demand is that individuals use gold as one of the most efficient means of keeping their savings from depreciating, the source said.

The Belarusian population follows the trends in the world market, the source noted, adding that the NBB recommends citizens to diversify their savings, that is, not to rely on only one foreign currency or only on gold.

The population and legal entities purchased 3,322 one-gram, 4,993 five-gram, 6,717 10-gram, 5,915 20-gram, 2,047 50-gram, 1,973 100-gram, 692 250-gram, 244 500-gram and 75 one-kilogram bars.

A total of 61 kilograms of ingot gold was bought by the NBB back from the population in the same period.

The NBB has been offering gold ingots to the population since August 2001. More than 3,800 kilograms of gold has been sold.

On April 14, 2005, the National Bank started selling silver and platinum bars. In the first three months, 13.9 kilograms of ingot silver was sold, including nine 10-gram, 17 20-gram and nine 500-gram bars.
As much as 5.2 kilograms of ingot platinum bars was bought by the population, including 381 five-gram, 171 10-gram, and 45 20-gram bars.