The World Gold Council reported that the world’s central banks last year bought 1,136 tons of gold worth $70 billion, setting a 55-year record.
The data showed that the volume of purchases of the precious metal increased sharply in the second half of the year, from July to December 2022, when central banks purchased 862 tons, while in the first half of the year they bought only 274 tons.
Much of the central bank’s buying was driven by the fact that bullion is seen as a safe haven in turbulent times and is expected to hold its value despite geopolitical changes, according to WGC senior analyst Krishan Gopol, unlike more volatile currencies and bonds.
The analyst said: “In our survey of central banks, we were told that the reasons for holding gold are its performance during the crisis and that it is an effective diversification factor, and if we look last year at both the geopolitical environment and macroeconomics, we see, that all these factors contributed to the increase in gold purchases.”
Gobul added that the majority of central bank purchases have been made in emerging markets, including China, Turkey and Egypt, which traditionally have smaller bullion sizes than Western banks.
Egypt purchased 44.6 tons of the precious metal last year, according to the World Gold Council.
In a Council report released last January, the data showed that 3 Arab countries purchased about 97 tons of Resonance Yellow last year, the report says that Egypt purchased 44.6 tons of Resonance Yellow, Iraq 33.9 tons, and the UAE – 18.5 tons.
Source: RT
