Cairo – Mubasher: Gold reserves in Egypt resumed its rising trend, increasing by $429 million or 10.5% to a new record of $4.505 billion in July, compared to $4.076 billion in June, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Thursday.

Over the first seven months of 2020, the country’s gold reserves grew by $1.2 billion from $3.301 billion at the end of 2019 as rising concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic boosted the safe-haven demand for the precious metal.

Year-on-year, gold reserves leapt by 47% or $1.44 billion from $3.059 billion in July 2019.

Globally, the precious metal gained 10.3% or $185.40, the largest monthly increase since February 2016.

Meanwhile, the country’s net international reserves increased by $113 million to $38.314.5 billion at the end of July.

In addition, the contribution of foreign currency reserves retreated to $33.5 billion in July from $33.83 billion a month earlier.