Mongol Bank obtained a total of 4.9 tons of precious metals as of March 11, of which 3.2 tons are gold and 1.7 tons are silver.

This marks a considerable increase in precious metal purchase compared to the 1.2 tons bought by Mongol Bank in the same period of 2019. This increase was attributed to higher gold prices in the global market and increased procurement of silver from local mining companies, according to the central bank.

Besides this, Mongol Bank’s purchase of precious metals was low in the first three months of 2019 due to the flat 10 percent royalty fee levied by the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority while relevant legislations were revised.

The central bank bought a gram of gold for an average price of 140,292.94 MNT in February. Now, the average price is 147,096.92 MNT per gram of gold, rising by 35 percent compared to March 2019 when a gram of gold was sold for 109,000 MNT. On the other hand, gold hit 1,700 USD per ounce mark last week but it was short-lived. As of Sunday afternoon, gold price has fallen to 1,529.29 USD per ounce, or approximately 149,288.9 MNT per gram. It is common for miners to sell their gold to the central bank when global gold price is low based on annual gold reports. The average price of silver stands at 1,492.43 MNT per gram.

Mongol Bank is preparing to sell silver bullion bars and coins starting April per requests from the public. Silver bullion coins will weigh one ounce and 1,000 grams, while silver coins will be packaged in four kilograms. The central bank believes that this project will enable people to trade registered precious metals in the local market, use it for gifts or souvenirs, and craft jewelry and accessories with silver with verified origin.