ULAN BATOR, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Mongolia, the central bank, has purchased 18.9 tons of gold from legal entities and individuals in the first 11 months of this year, the same as last year's figure during the same period, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.

As of November, the bank's average gold purchase price was 100,995.34 Mongolian tugriks (about 38 U.S. dollars) per gram.

The bank, which bought 20.01 tons of gold last year, has set a goal to buy 22 tons of gold by the end of this year. But it is expected that the bank will fail to achieve its goal because the three-month peak season for gold mining ended in October, analysts said.

In May, the central bank launched a five-month campaign, "National Gold to the Fund of Treasures," to encourage gold miners and individuals to sell gold to banks.