Why Are Central Banks Buying Vast Quantities Of Gold?

Ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold are placed in a workroom at Krastsvetmet precious metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, January 31, 2023. Alexander Manzyuk, Reuters 

CNBC: Gold demand surged to an 11-year high in 2022 on ‘colossal’ central bank buying 

* Annual gold demand jumped 18% to 4,741 tons (excluding over-the-counter or OTC trading) across the year. 

* That’s the largest annual figure since 2011, fueled by record fourth-quarter demand of 1,337 tons. 

* Key to the surge was a 55-year high of 1,136 tons bought by central banks across the year. 

Gold demand soared to an 11-year high in 2022 on the back of “colossal central bank purchases, aided by vigorous retail investor buying,” according to the World Gold Council. 

Annual gold demand jumped 18% to 4,741 tons (excluding over-the-counter or OTC trading) across the year, the largest annual figure since 2011, fueled by record fourth-quarter demand of 1,337 tons. 

Key to the surge was a 55-year high of 1,136 tons bought by central banks across the year, the industry-backed group revealed, noting that the majority of these purchases were “unreported.” 

This marked a 152% increase from 2021, when central banks bought just 450 tons of gold, and the World Gold Council attributed the spike to geopolitical uncertainty and high inflation. 

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Update #1: Central banks bought the most gold since 1967 last year, WGC says (Reuters)  

Update #2: Why is central bank gold buying at 55-year highs? (Kitco)  

WNU Editor: What do they know that they are not telling us.