$4,000 Gold Is Changing Lives Across Central Asia
As the price of gold has hovered around $4,000 an ounce in recent weeks, the men in the small-scale mines north of the village of Soykechar in Uzbekistan have watched every bounce and slide. They pull up apps on their phones that show various price points. The local TV stations announce the price. A
Source: OilPrice.com
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DW NOTE
Gold at $4,000 is no windfall — it's a symptom. Central Asian states hold Soviet-era reserves accumulated when gold traded at $300, then $800. A quadrupling in nominal terms looks like wealth creation until you price it in oil, which has spiked 26% this month alone, or in imported machinery, food, and energy. What changes lives in Bishkek isn't the gold price; it's whether the proceeds buy more or less than they did before the Strait closed.