Krishan Gopaul

Our monthly central bank statistics have been updated today, to include initial February data reported by the IMF and respective central banks. Collectively, central banks tipped back into net purchases during the month.

What does the latest central bank gold reserves data tell us, and does it help make an assessment on the prospects for central bank demand in 2021?

This blog explores gold's performance in 2021 so far, and what we expect to see in the year ahead.

Following net purchases in October, central banks returned to net selling in November. Global official reserves decline by 6.5t during the month. Like August and September, when central banks were also net sellers, this was the result of continued moderate buying being offset by a few sizeable sales.

Following two consecutive months of net sales, central banks resumed buying in October: global official gold reserves rose by 22.8t on a net basis.

Listen to this episode of 'Dig Deep - The Mining Podcast' for an in-depth chat on our Gold Demand Trends quarterly report.

In August, central banks switched from net buyers to net sellers for the first time in around a year and a half.

Krishan Gopaul of our research team explores the challenges confronting property investors during COVID-19 where many saw their capital inaccessible as property funds suspended withdrawals.

Our central bank gold statistics were published today, and the latest IMF data makes for a very interesting read. Available data for July highlights central bank net purchases of 8.8t – the lowest level of monthly net purchases since December 2018 (-1.5t).

The gold market has continued to take steps towards greater transparency by improving the availability and accessibility of data. Today, another step forward is taken as the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the Bank of England, and the commercial vaults have announced they will now be publishing gold and silver holdings within the vaults in London with a one-month lag, compared to the previous three month lag.

To help people better understand how gold goes from the ground to the market, we have produced a short animation, which we have created in response to increased attention the gold supply chain has received this year.

In this Pensions Age article, Krishan Gopaul explores the question; two-thirds of pension funds are deeply concerned about the future of the global economic and financial system: How might gold help?

Central bank net purchases totalled 39.8t in May, in line with net purchases in March and April, and above the monthly average of 35t over the first four months of this year.

In April, central banks bought another 31.6t based on IMF data. While the monthly increase is not far off the 6-month average (34.7t), it is 24% lower than March and 35% lower than April 2019.

In February, central banks bought a net 36 tonnes (t) of gold, almost a third higher than January’s net purchases, but 52% lower y-o-y. This brings y-t-d net purchases to 64.5t, 44% lower than the 116.1t of net purchases over the first two months of 2019.