Gold Purchased by Central Banks Dipped in Q1 2021

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The gold purchases by world’s central banks reported notable decline during the initial quarter of 2021, said the Gold Demand Trends Q1 2021 Report published by the World Gold Council (WGC).

The central banks across the world bought a net total of 95 tonnes in Q1 this year, significantly lower by 23% than the corresponding quarter a year before. The net purchases had totalled 124.1 tonnes in Q1 last year. The Q1 2021 purchases stood higher by 20% over the previous quarter. WGC expressed the hope that central banks will remain net purchasers of gold in 2021.

The largest gold purchaser during the quarter was Hungary. The country’s central bank purchased 63 tonnes of gold, thus raising its total gold reserves from 31.5 tonnes to 94.5 tonnes. Gold now accounts for approximately 14% of the country’s total reserves. This is the country’s first gold purchase since October 2018. India added another 18.7 tonnes in Q1 this year, while Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan recorded quarterly gold purchases of 8 tonnes and 23.3 tonnes respectively.

The largest seller of gold during the quarter was Turkey, whose gold reserves declined by 31.5 tonnes to 512.6 tonnes. The other major sellers were the Philippines (24.9 tonnes), the UAE (6.7 tonnes) and Russia (3.1 tonnes).