World Central Bank Gold Reserves Spiked in Q1

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Gold Demand Trends Q1 2022 published by the World Gold Council (WGC) indicates that gold reserves held by global central banks rose by 84 tonnes during the initial quarter of the year. The demand stood positive during the turbulent quarter, amidst geopolitical crises and surging inflation.

The central bank gold demand more than doubled over the prior quarter, but was down significantly by 29% when compares with the corresponding quarter a year before. The year-on-year decline was primarily driven by reduced number of sizeable transactions.

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The largest buyer was Egypt, which added a whopping 44 tonnes in February alone. The total gold reserves by the country stood at 125 tonnes, accounting for 17% of the total reserves. The second major gold purchaser was Turkey, which increased its gold holdings by 37 tonnes in Q1 2022. The country’s total gold reserves now stand at over 430 tonnes.

India bought 6 tonnes of gold during the quarter. Ireland added a further 2 tonnes of gold, thus being the only active buyer among developed market central banks.

Meantime, the majority of gold sales during Q1 came from gold-producing countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The largest seller was Kazakhstan, which reduced its gold holdings by 34 tonnes. Also, Uzbekistan reduced its gold holdings by 25 tonnes. Poland sold just over 2 tonnes during the quarter, WGC report said.