DUSHANBE, July 23, 2013, Asia-Plus -- As of July 1, 2013, Tajikistan’s gold and currency reserves were estimated at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, Abdujabbor Shirinov, the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), told journalists on July 23.

“Today, we have more than 11 tons of gold,” Shirinov said, noting that the country’s gold reserves are kept both in Tajikistan and in banks in Europe (in Switzerland and Germany).

According to him, Tajikistan’s gold and currency reserves rise 20-25 percent a year.  “However, it is not enough,” said Tajik central bank head.  “We can be sure only when our gold and currency reserves will cover a three-month volume of the country’s imports.  Unfortunately, we have not yet reached that level.  Our current gold and currency reserves are little more than a two-month volume of the country’s imports.”

We will recall that Tajikistan’s imports in the first half-year of 2013 have amounted to some 2 billion U.S. dollars; an average monthly volume of imports for this period has amounted to more than 333 million USD.