State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan creates gold reserves

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 19 / Trend E.Ismayilov / In the first quarter, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) purchased more than 2.8 tons of gold, a report of SOFAZ said on Thursday. "SOFAZ began to buy gold from the first quarter of 2012 and during this period the total amount of purchased gold was 2.804 tons (90,143 ounces)," a statement said. SOFAZ from Feb. 1 began investing in gold bullion of banks that are market-makers - members of the Association of members of London Bullion Market. The Association consists of banks, manufacturers, transportation and refining companies, specializing in the market of gold and silver bullion. Investing in gold has begun to diversify the investment portfolio and income of SOFAZ. According to the State Oil Fund's investment strategy approved by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on December 29, 2011, in 2012 up to five percent of the total investment portfolio may be invested in gold. At the end of 2011, the total investment portfolio amounted to $29.629,89 billion, or 99.43 percent of the total assets of SOFAZ. As of April 1, 2012, the assets of the Oil Fund amounted to about $32.36 billion. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az