World Gold Council Survey: More Central Banks Plan to Increase Gold Reserves

Odaily Planet Daily News The World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday that among the central banks it surveyed, 45% expect to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months, a rise of 2 percentage points from a year ago. In the WGC's annual survey, conducted between February 5 and May 19, 54% of the 74 central banks indicated their gold holdings would remain unchanged, while 1% expected their gold holdings to decline. Most responses were received after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East in late February, which triggered a rise in oil prices and led to a decline in the price of gold.

The WGC’s Head of Global Central Banks stated that central banks remain keen on gold, and the recent drop in gold prices has not changed their views. Furthermore, the WGC said that 93% of respondents already hold gold, up from 81% a year earlier. Among the many reasons for holding gold, a high 90% of respondents cited gold's strong performance during times of crisis.

Other key reasons include long-term value storage and portfolio diversification. Respondents from emerging markets and developing economies (85%) placed greater emphasis on gold's role as a hedge against geopolitical risks. As some central banks continue to diversify their gold reserves, 9% of respondents said they had increased their domestic gold reserves over the past 12 months, up from 5% last year; 10% of respondents said they had diversified the locations of their overseas gold reserves, up from 2% last year. Over the next 12 months, 7% of central banks plan to increase domestic storage, and 9% plan to diversify their overseas storage locations. (Jinshi)