Central Banks Buy the Most Gold Since London Gold Pool Collapse in 1968.

Welcome to the Precious Metals Bug Forums

Welcome to the PMBug forums - a watering hole for folks interested in gold, silver, precious metals, sound money, investing, market and economic news, central bank monetary policies, politics and more.

Why not register an account and join the discussions? When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no Google ads, market data/charts, access to trade/barter with the community and much more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

When Gordon Brown sold British gold reserves in ~2000 ...
giphy.gif
 
At this point everybody in the UK should be buying gold sovereigns by the handful.
 
...
In April, the PBOC bought 60,000 troy ounces, according to official data released Tuesday. That’s down from 160,000 ounces in March, and 390,000 ounces in February.

First-quarter purchases by the world’s central banks, led by China, were the strongest on record, according to the World Gold Council. ...


Is this a reflection of China's interest in buying gold, or China's need to intervene in their currency and financial markets tapping out their ability to buy foreign gold?
 
While gross gold purchases were similar to those seen in March, sovereign selling dried up in April, resulting in a large net gain by central banks, according to Krishan Gopaul, Senior Analyst, EMEA at the World Gold Council.

“The rapid rise in the gold price during March raised several questions,” Gopaul noted in their latest report. “One of these was whether central banks – whose demand has been posited as a key reason for the recent rally – would change their gold buying behaviour in response.”

Gopaul said that March’s more complete data, combined with initial numbers for April, show that the sovereign appetite for bullion is as strong as ever. “Latest figures – reported via the IMF and publicly available sources – show that global gold reserves rose by a net 33t in April, similar to levels seen in February (27t). Although gross purchases dipped to 36t, from 39t in March, gross sales saw a more pronounced m/m drop from 36t to just 3t in April.”

The latest numbers show that eight central banks increased their gold reserves by one tonne or more during the month. “The Central Bank of Turkey was the largest buyer, increasing its official reserves by 8t,” Gopaul said. “With 11 consecutive months of buying, the bank’s y-t-d net purchases now total 38t and lift its total official gold holdings to 578t.”

The other major buyers during the period were the National Bank of Kazakhstan (6t), the Reserve Bank of India (6t), the National Bank of Poland (5t), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (4t), the Central Bank of Russia (3t), and the Czech National Bank (2t).
...

 
Everybody is replacing t-bills with gold. UK pension also could not sell bonds either as they had no bidders.Stay 1 year or less on any debt purchases, however when it collapses it will happen overnight.
 
... Latest figures – reported via the IMF and publicly available sources – show that global gold reserves rose by a net 33t in April, similar to levels seen in February (27t).1 Although gross purchases dipped to 36t, from 39t in March, gross sales saw a more pronounced m/m drop from 36t to just 3t in April.
...
Eight central banks increased their gold reserves by a tonne or more in April. The Central Bank of Turkey was the largest buyer, increasing its official reserves by 8t.2 With 11 consecutive months of buying, the bank’s y-t-d net purchases now total 38t and lift its total official gold holdings to 578t. The National Bank of Kazakhstan (6t), Reserve Bank of India (6t), National Bank of Poland (5t), Monetary Authority of Singapore (4t), Central Bank of Russia (3t) and Czech National Bank (2t) were the other major buyers in the month.

The People's Bank of China reported a significant slowdown in its gold buying. The bank reported that its gold reserves rose by just under 2t in April to 2,264t – the lowest monthly increase since it resumed reporting in November 2022 and well below the 18t monthly average prior to April.

Notable gross sales were limited to the Central Banks of Uzbekistan and Jordan. Both reported a 1t decline in their gold reserves, a notable reduction in the pace of selling seen in February and March.
...

 
... According to the 2024 Central Bank Gold Reserves (CBGR) survey, which was conducted between 19 February and 30 April 2024 with a total of 70 responses, 29% of central banks respondents intend to increase their gold reserves in the next twelve months, the highest level we have observed since we began this survey in 2018. ...

 
...
According to the latest numbers from the World Gold Council, central banks bought a net 10 tonnes of gold in May, a drop of 56% from April. The WGC noted that net buying is well below the 12-month average of 42 tonnes.

The drop in purchases does not come as a significant surprise to some analysts, as the market is missing one key player. In early June, China spooked the gold market after data from the country’s central bank showed that it didn’t buy any gold in May, ending an 18-month shopping spree.
...

 
Nobody wants treasuries anymore. When all the dollars get repatriated watch out. If you think gold is gettting high now it will be expensive then. Not to mention they are lowering rates to save real estate which will cause more inflation.

All that costs money and will raise the debt which should approach $50T by end of next presidential term. How will we pay the interest on that?
 
Nobody wants treasuries anymore. When all the dollars get repatriated watch out. If you think gold is gettting high now it will be expensive then. Not to mention they are lowering rates to save real estate which will cause more inflation.

All that costs money and will raise the debt which should approach $50T by end of next presidential term. How will we pay the interest on that?
We can just pay off the debt with 50 of those trillion dollar platinum coins they were talking about minting.
Alternatively I propose an 80% tax on Jeff Bezos wealth along with a few others. Bill gates, Taylor shitlips, And any other liberal with a net worth of more than 50 million. Give em all a taste of what they are truly wanting us to vote for.
Also wanted to add that any politician with a net worth of over 3 million that earned it while in office or shortly thereafter should also be subject to a special tax. I would also include the billion or so in the Clinton foundation, the 350 million in the Obama foundation, the 400 million in Bushes net worth and god only knows how much in the Biden crime families coffers, along with Pelosi, shimmer, McConnel, ect.
 
5 tonnes in September... By definition, a metric ton of water is equal to a cube 1 meter per side, right? And gold is roughly 20 times denser, so 5 tonnes would be 1/4 of a cubic meter. My units tell me this would be equal to eight and a half cubic feet.

"Yes, sir, our September acquisition is against the wall over there, behind the garden gnomes."
 
Gold purchases from central banks have been a key driver in bullion’s record-smashing rally this year. But officials rarely signal ahead of time when buying is top of mind.

In a break to that form, reserve managers from the central banks of Mexico, Mongolia, and Czech Republic today sang the praises of bigger holdings. The comments provided unique insight into how they are viewing bullion, with the officials saying that gold as a percentage of their country's reserves is more likely to increase in the years ahead amid a confluence of growing geopolitical tensions and lower interest rates.

"Given the context that we are facing right now -- lower rates, your political tension, U.S. election, a lot of uncertainty -- maybe the share of gold in our portfolios could be increasing as well," said Joaquín Tapia, director of international reserves at Banco de Mexico.

Enkhjin Atarbaatar of Mongolia and Marek Sestak of Czech Republic echoed Tapia's remarks. The three officials spoke together on a panel in Miami at an annual industry conference held by the London Bullion Market Association.

"In Mongolia's case, I expect that the reserves will continue to grow, and I also expect that the share of gold in our reserves will likely increase in the future," said Atarbaatar, director general of the financial markets department at the Central Bank of Mongolia.

Sestak, deputy executive director of the risk-management department at the Czech National Bank, responded: "I completely agree as well." ...


... Nearly all mainstream financial media commentators and many gold sector commentators still maintain that the gold price bull run is being driven by among other factors, central bank gold buying of physical gold. You will be familiar with many gold articles with titles such as “Gold driven to new high due to record central bank gold buying” etc.

But in reality, central banks do not want their gold buying transactions to influence the gold price. They want the opposite. That is why central banks buy and sell gold (and lease and swap gold) in secret in London, coordinated by the Bank of England and via the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) trading desk, where they net off buyers and sellers so as to minimise price impact. The Bank of England and BIS may even use a queueing or rationing system for physical gold, allowing some central banks to buy some gold from other central banks and then some from annual new supply / recycling. This would explain why only a handful of central banks ever seem to be buying gold in any one month.
...

More:

 
This post may contain affiliate links for which PM Bug gold and silver discussion forum may be compensated.
Haji likes gold. Good for haji.
 
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is covertly buying very large amounts of gold, adding upward pressure to a tense gold market.
...
This secret buying by central banks has exploded since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine early 2022 because, at that point, the West froze Russia’s dollar assets. Next to the PBoC, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) is known to be buying gold under the radar, albeit in smaller sizes.

Elaborating on the above, the PBoC has made it overtly clear what they did in September: buy 60 tonnes of gold from bullion banks operating in the London Bullion Market.
...

More:
 
47cfc5_076612ddfbcd43ccb3c7ce955b9ab569~mv2.jpg


 
The world’s central banks continued to drive demand for gold in November, with the lion’s share of purchases once again being made by emerging markets, according to Krishan Gopaul, Senior Analyst, EMEA at the World Gold Council.

“November represented another solid month of gold buying as central banks collectively added a net 53t to global official holdings based on available reported data,” Gopaul said. ...

More:
 


5 tonnes? That's laughable in context of the supposed 2,000 tonnes the USA has reportedly imported over the last ~2 months.
 
New rule of thumb is countries should.hold at least 4% of their GDP in gold bullion.

Bitcoin is next and will have a higher price velocity.
 
Back
Top Bottom