INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
First-quarter gold purchases by central banks, led by Russia and China, were the highest in six years as countries diversify their assets
away from the US dollar.
Global gold reserves rose 145.5 tons in the first quarter, a 68 per cent increase from a year earlier, the World
Gold Council said Thursday in a report
since 2014, plus sizeable purchases by Qatar and Colombia, the council said
The buyers are dominated by countries looking to reduce their dollar dependency, and are typically nations with a lower share of reserves in
gold than Western European countries.
Central bank purchases have been a key support for gold, helping to offset lower demand from bar and
coin investors as well as from industrial users of the metal
Gold has lost 1 per cent so far this year, and was trading at about $1,270 an ounce in London on Thursday.
Inflows into exchange-traded
funds backed by gold during January have been wiped out over the rest of the year, with ETF levels now at their lowest in four months.
On
by its primary data provider Metals Focus Ltd
The sector is estimated to account for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of global gold mine production.