World Gold Council Survey: More Central Banks Plan to Increase Gold Reserves

Deep Tide TechFlow News. On June 16, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday that, among the central banks it surveyed, 45% expect to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier. In its annual survey conducted from February 5 to May 19, 54% of the 74 central banks said their gold holdings would remain unchanged, while 1% expected their gold holdings to decline. Most of the responses were received after the outbreak of conflicts in the Middle East in late February, which drove up oil prices and led to a fall in gold prices. The WGC’s global head for central banks said that central banks in all countries still remain keen on gold, and recent declines in gold prices have not changed their stance. In addition, the WGC said that 93% of respondents reported already holding gold, up from 81% a year earlier.

Among the many reasons for holding gold, as many as 90% of respondents said gold performs well during times of crisis. Other key reasons also include long-term value storage and portfolio diversification. Respondents from emerging markets and developing economies (85%) place even more emphasis on gold’s role as a hedge against geopolitical risks. As some central banks continue to shift their gold reserves, 9% of respondents said they increased their domestic gold reserves over the past 12 months, up from 5% last year; 10% said they diversified the locations of their overseas gold reserves, up from 2% last year. Over the next 12 months, 7% of central banks plan to increase domestic storage, and 9% plan to diversify their overseas storage locations. (Jin10)