Central banks are in the midst of a gold buying spree, according to new numbers from the World Gold Council (WGC).
The organization says central banks added $24 billion of gold, weighing 290 tonnes, to their coffers in the first quarter of this year.
That’s the strongest level of net demand for any quarter on record, using data that dates back to the year 2000.
The WGC says China, Turkey, India and Kazakhstan are driving much of the demand for the precious metal.
“Many have attributed central banks’ ongoing voracious appetite for gold as a key driver of its recent performance in the face of seemingly challenging conditions: namely, higher yields and US dollar strength. And despite the high bar set in the last two years, the voracious buying has continued into 2024 in the face of the renewed gold price rally…
Not only is the long-standing trend in central bank gold buying firmly intact, it also continues to be dominated by banks from emerging markets. Ten central banks reported increased gold reserves (of a tonne or more) during Q1, all of whom have been active over recent quarters.
The WGC says the previous quarterly record for net demand was set in Q4 of last year, weighing in at 286 tonnes.
The group says more data is needed to determine whether gold’s recent rise in price will have an impact on central bank purchases moving forward.
“While the recent price rally may have impacted trade execution, for those central banks that manage their gold reserves more actively, we do not expect it will derail any strategic gold accumulation plans they may have.”
Gold has moved from around $2,000 at the start of this year to $2,347 at time of publishing.
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