WGC REPORT: CENTRAL BANKS ARE BUYING MORE AND MORE GOLD

In the first quarter of 2018, global central banks added as much as 116.5 tons of gold to their reserves, which is 42% more than a year ago. Russia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan bought the most, with a total of 91 tons. As for selling the precious metal, it was negligible, with Qatar disposing of the most gold: 3.1 tons.

RUSSIA: +41.7 t

After the first quarter, Russian gold reserves rose to 1,890.8 tons, which is equivalent to 18% of the Federation's total reserves. It is worth remembering that at the beginning of 2008, the Central Bank of Russia held only 463 tons of gold. This means that over the course of a decade, Russia has increased its gold reserves by approximately 308%. The expansion of reserves has gained momentum in recent years – over the past 38 months, gold has been flowing into the treasury regularly, resulting in a total of 683.1 tons. We wrote about the sources of this determination in an earlier article>>.

TURKEY: +29.8 t

For the second quarter in a row, Turkey was the world's second-largest buyer of gold. As a result, at the end of March, Turkish vaults held approximately 232 tons of gold. Although this amount does not seem impressive, the pace of purchases is impressive. Since the Turkish Central Bank began buying gold in May last year, Turkish reserves have almost doubled. On average, 10.5 tons of gold were added each month.

KAZAKHSTAN: +9.1 t

While Turkey can boast speed, Kazakhstan impresses with its consistency. In the first quarter of this year, a more modest budget allowed the country to purchase three times less gold than Turkey. However, Kazakhstan is more steadfast in its policy and has been making monthly purchases continuously since 2012. As a result, over the past six years, the reserves of the National Bank of Kazakhstan have increased by more than 200 tons, or 198%.

COLOMBIA: +2.5 t ( Total reserves: 12.8 t)

KYRGYZSTAN: +1 t ( Total reserves: 8.5 t)

USA: +0 t

Due to the fact that the United States is the world's largest "gold" power, we have also decided to include it in this ranking. Although American treasuries have not been significantly replenished even once in the 21st century, the US still leaves all its competitors far behind – it currently holds as much as 8,233.5 tons of gold. The next positions are occupied by Germany (3,371 tons), Italy (2,451.8 tons), and France (2,436 tons). Perhaps it is this large advantage that makes Americans feel no need to make further purchases.