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Gold near $4,000 an ounce lifts wages in Uzbekistan while risks mount

Miners in Soykechar say wages have risen about 20 percent in the past year as gold prices stayed around $4,000, even as inflation and debt concerns grow.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Precious Metals

Gold prices hovering around $4,000 an ounce in recent weeks have reshaped parts of Central Asia, according to OilPrice, with small-scale miners in Uzbekistan tracking market moves via phone apps, local TV broadcasts, and even black market quotes.

In the village area of Soykechar, miners describe using the higher prices to improve household spending on clothing, food, and private healthcare. One miner, Doniyor, a 34-year-old machinery manager, said the boom has helped “make better lives” for his family, while local workers point to stronger pay as a direct effect.

OilPrice reports that gold-led growth has underwritten aspects of living standards across the region, including increased government spending and wage gains that miners in Soykechar say total about 20 percent over the past year.

Still, the article flags downside pressures tied to the commodity surge, including high inflation, rising government and personal debt, and fears that the region could become overly dependent on a single export. An economist at the University of Birmingham, Franco Galdini, compared the dynamic to the early 1990s, when cotton was the dominant source of dollars before the transition to gold.

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