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(Kitco News) - Gold continues to play an active role in central banks' foreign reserves, according to updated data from the International Monetary Fund, highlighted by the World Gold Council.
Tuesday, in a Twitter post, Krishan Gopaul, senior analyst for the WGC, said that Qatar bought 1.6 tonnes of gold last month. He noted that this is the first increase in the nation's gold reserves since October 2023.
Qatar's central bank now holds 93.4 tonnes of gold in its foreign reserves.
Latest IMF data shows that Qatar Central Bank increased its official #gold reserves by 1.6 tonnes in June, the first increase since October 2022. Its total gold reserves now stand at 93.4 tonnes. pic.twitter.com/PwsrDuVJUQ
— Krishan Gopaul (@KrishanGopaul) July 18, 2023
At the same time, Gopaul said that data showed that the National Bank of Kazakhstan sold 3.2 tonnes of gold last month. Kazakhstan said that the central bank has reduced its gold reserves by 42.1 tonnes since February. In January, the central bank bought 3.9 tonnes of gold.
However, in his research, Gopaul has noted that its common for nations like Kazakhstan, which has solid domestic production, to sell its gold.
Although data for June continues to be tabulated, there are early signs that central banks were net buyers of gold last month, with China and Poland leading the market. Turkey, which heavily sold gold for the last three months, skewing the global picture, bought 11 tonnes of gold last month.
In a recent interview with Kitco News, Ryan McIntyre, managing partner at Sprott Inc., said that it is not surprising that central banks continue to buy gold as it remains the ultimate neutral asset.
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He added that governments worldwide, led by Western Nations, continue to add to their growing deficits, creating sovereign risks in the marketplace. He said that it makes sense to own some gold in this environment, which has no geopolitical or third-party risk.
"Gold is an island unto itself,” he said. "We've long taken for granted governments' ability to pave over economic problems with more debt, but at some point, we are going to reach an end. It's not sustainable.”
