Gold: China and central banks, the big bettors

In so far this year, Gold accumulates a revaluation of more than 11%, being decisive what happened last March, which left increases of 9% against the statements of the central bankers and geopolitical tension, added to the strategy of accumulation of the precious metal by central banks and China.

The latest global data show, on the one hand, that central banks bought 19 net tons in February pastwhich is a drop of more than 50% monthly, on the other hand, demand continues to be driven by emerging market banks, such as China and India. However, The slower pace of accumulation in February has had little impact on the general purchasing trend of central banks, experts point out. What will surely be seen when the official figures for March are known.

For now, the data available for February show that Global gold reserves reported by central banks increased by 19 tons, which marks the ninth consecutive month of growth. But a combination of Slower gross purchases and higher sales volume This resulted in February purchases being 58% lower than the 45 tons in January. In annual terms, Central banks report the addition of 64 tons in January and February, 43% less than in the same period in 2023, but a four-fold increase than in 2022.

As in previous months, activity was primarily limited to those who have been regular buyers/sellers in recent years. So that, The People’s Bank of China was the largest buyer of the month, increasing its gold reserves by 12 tons to 2,257 tons. Including February, the People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves have grown for 16 consecutive months, although gold’s share of total reserves remains around 4%.

For its part, The National Bank of Kazakhstan increased its gold reserves by 6 tons in February, maintaining the good start to 2024. Net purchases to date amount to 12 tonnes, bringing total holdings to just over 306 tonnes.

The weekly data of the Reserve Bank of India showed that their gold reserves increased by another 6 tonnes in February, bringing their annual purchases to more than 13 tonnes and total gold holdings to 817 tonnes.

The official gold reserves in the Central Bank of Türkiye They increased 4 tons in February, raising holdings to 556 tons. While the Monetary Authority of Singapore added 2 tonnes to its gold reserves during the month, the first increase in gold holdings since September 2023. Gold reserves now total 232 tonnes.

Another buyer was Czech National Bank whose gold reserves increased by around 2 tons in February, the twelfth consecutive month of gold purchases (1 ton or more). During that period, Czech purchases amounted to almost 22 tons, bringing gold holdings to 34 tons, up 183% from the end of February 2023.

He Central Bank of Qatar reported that its gold reserves increased by almost 2 tons in February, so its total gold holdings exceeded 100 tons in December and now sit just below 103 tons.

The data of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic showed their gold reserves increased by more than 1 tonne in February, with year-on-year net purchases now totaling 2 tonnes and total gold holdings now standing at almost 24 tonnes.

Gold: the only sellers of the month

The latest available data also shows that There were only two outstanding sellers during the month, were the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, which reduced its gold reserves by 12 tons and the Central Bank of Jordan which lowered its gold reserves by 4 tons.

Global metals market experts believe that despite lower demand from central banks in February, the year has had a healthy start and The general gold buying trend remains intact.

It is worth remembering that Gold is an important component of central bank reserves due to its safety, liquidity and profitability characteristics., which are, according to globally accepted criteria, the three key investment objectives for central banks. Therefore, they are important holders of gold, representing around a fifth of all the gold mined throughout history.