Featured Report
Central banks return to gold
Central banks bought more gold in 2018 than at any time since the early 1970s – and the trend has continued this year. Isabelle Strauss-Kahn, Member of the Advisory Board of the World Gold Council, former Director of Market Operations at the Banque de France and former Lead Financial Officer at the World Bank, explains why.
Market Update: Central bank buying activity
Gold is an important part of central banks’ foreign exchange (FX) reserves. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the end of H1 2018 central banks collectively owned US$1.36tn of gold, around 10% of global FX reserves.
Guidance on recommended practice in accounting for gold - video
Ezechiel Copic, Director, Central Banks and Public Policy in conversation with Kenneth Sullivan, author of the new report Guidance for Monetary Authorities on the recommended practice in accounting for monetary gold on why the World Gold Council commissioned this guidance and how it can benefit monetary authorities.
Enhancing the Wealth of Nations: Gold and Sovereign Wealth Funds
Gold: valuable reserve amid unprecedented policy environment
Unprecedented monetary policies (including quantitative easing and negative nominal interest rates) have had the unintended consequence of dramatically reducing the pool of investable assets available to reserve managers.
Working towards a common accounting framework for gold
This paper reviews the different approaches to gold accounting demonstrated by central banks and discusses the elements of a common approach for central banks.
The World Gold Council welcomes the fourth Central Bank Gold Agreement
Central bank diversification strategies – rebalancing from the dollar and the euro
A report by the World Gold Council, “Central bank diversification strategies – rebalancing from the dollar and the euro”, examines the growing trend of central banks’ actively looking to diversify their reserve portfolios.
An Introduction to Gold-Backed Bonds: an Alternative to Austerity - video
Across Europe, economic growth is faltering and in many Eurozone countries, sovereign debt yields are dangerously high.
The World Gold Council has been exploring ways that Eurozone Member States could use their gold reserves to help bring down the cost of borrowing.
We believe that using a portion of a nation's gold reserves to back sovereign debt would lower sovereign debt yields and give some of the Eurozone's most distressed countries time to work on economic reform and recovery.
The following video explores why such a measure could offer an alternative to austerity for the Eurozone.
Gold-backed bonds - Professor Ansgar Belke - video
Natalie Dempster, Director of Government Affairs, World Gold Council, discusses gold-backed bonds with Professor Ansgar Belke.