ULAN BATOR, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Mongolia announced on Wednesday it purchased over 3.2 tons of gold from legal entities and individuals in the first four months of the year.
This marked a rise of 257.6 kg from the same period last year. As of April, the central bank's average gold price was 102.096 tugrik (42.52 U.S. dollars) per gram, which corresponds to a low rate on the London Metal Exchange, according to the Bank of Mongolia.
It is expected that the gold purchase will increase with the start of the peak of gold mining in August, September and October.
Miners in the country submitted 20.01 tons of gold to the central bank in 2017, contributing 800 million dollars to the state budget.
Annual gold production had not surpassed 20 tons since 2005 when it reached its record high of 25 tons.
