A recent report from the World Gold Council (WGC) noted that global central banks accumulated 31 tons of the precious metal in January and central banks expect continued demand for gold in 2023 The report indicates. Turkey is the largest gold buyer, adding 23 tons to its central bank stash, and the People’s Bank of China also bought 15 tons of gold.
Central bank gold purchases remain stable despite potential challenges in 2023
At the time of this writing, a fine .999 troy ounce of gold was $1,857.50/oz, up 1.12% over the past day. Gold priceshave been falling since January 31, 2023, when the price per ounce reached $1,950 against the U.S. dollar; on March 2, the World Gold Council (WGC) released areporttitled “No Dry January for Central Bank Gold Purchases” and January 2023, discussing how the record January 2023 maintained the demand registered by the world’s central banks at the end of 2022.
According to report author Krishan Gopaul, many purchases were from Turkey, China, and Kazakhstan. “In January, central banks added 31 tons to global gold reserves, up 16% from the previous month.” This was also comfortably in the 20-60 tonne range of reported purchases, where net purchases have been made for the past 10 consecutive months.”
Central bank purchases and sales in January 2023 accounted for 44 tons, offsetting one central bank’s hidden sale of 12 tons. The largest gold buyer was the Turkish (Turkiye) central bank, which acquired about 23 tons during the month. According to the country’s records, Turkey now holds 565 tons of gold.
China is in second place, with the People’s Bank of China acquiring 15 tons in the same period.” The National Bank of Kazakhstan increased its gold reserves by a modest 4 tons in January to 356 tons.” the WGC authors explain. The data is based on International Monetary Fund (IMF) records, and some of the data may be revised in the next WGC monthly report.
In addition to Turkey, China, and Kazakhstan, the WGC author details that Croatiajoined the Eurozoneand needed to transfer its reserve assets to the ECB, so the European Central Bank (ECB) acquired two tons The seller of the January 2023 gold sale of 12 tons was Central Bank of Uzbekistan, which currently holds approximately 384 tons.
The WGC report concludes that there is no doubt that the world’s central banks will continue to buy gold for the remainder of 2023. However, the WGC authors stress that gold purchases this year may not match the record set in 2022.” It is also reasonable to assume that central bank demand in 2023 may struggle to reach the levels reached last yr.