New data has confirmed what has become a core trend for 2023 – that the world’s central banks continue to actively acquire gold.
The World Gold Council’s (WGC) most recent ledger of purchases shows that there continues to be a clear policy to hold more gold in reserves around the world.
Libya has made clear and decisive moves to substantially increase its gold holdings, the WGC notes. Official data confirms that Africa’s fourth largest country now has a record amount of gold in its vaults. It added 30 tonnes to its holdings in June, with total reserves now measured at 147 tonnes. That figure means reserves have grown by 26% since December.
The island nation of Singapore has also been consistent in its gold acquisition for most of this year and in July, added a further two tonnes of the precious metal to its holdings. This latest addition brings Singapore’s Monetary Authority’s total purchases for the year to date to 73.6 tonnes – an increase of 48% since December.
In the Middle East, it’s a similar story with Qatar. One of the world’s richest nations thanks to its natural gas exports, it acquired a further three tonnes of gold in July, taking its total holdings to 97 tonnes.
Central bank buying has shown this same continuous pattern of acquisition for much of the year. With many countries very clearly adopting a strategy to increase their gold holdings swiftly and significantly, it’s clear that sentiment around gold remains strong. Central bank buying has the power to push gold prices higher.
With many analysts suggesting that investors should replicate central bank behaviour and buy gold when they do, there really is no time to waste. As we reported in our mid-week update on Wednesday, the expectation is that gold prices will rise over the next few weeks due to a surge in physical consumer demand as a result of events such as Diwali. Don’t wait for prices to spike.
Buy now.
