Kazakhstan’s central bank announced plans to sell gold on the international markets for dollars, and also conduct domestic USD sales to match its gold purchases, aiming to reduce excess tenge liquidity and inflation. The bank estimates it will sell around USD 6 bln a year through this process, the equivalent of USD 500 mln a month. Further on Friday, the central bank left rates unchanged at 15.25%, as expected by analysts, though in the press release remained hawkish, highlighting a range of pro-inflationary factors, raising the possibility of future hikes.