FT: countries buy gold at record pace, most of all – Russia and China
The country’s central banks are buying gold at rates previously recorded only in 1967, the World Gold Council told the financed industry. According to Financial Times Analysts cite Russia and China as suspect buyers.
According to the World Gold Council, countries purchased 673 tons of gold, with 400 tons in the third quarter – a record since the start of quarterly reports in 2000. World Gold Council estimates are higher than official central bank data. This gave rise to speculation about who bought the gold and some projects related to the financing of the FT. This is probably due to the fact that in some countries, including Russia and China, the purchase of gold is not only carried out by central banks. Countries bought 333 months in a month, according to the Monetary Fund and major central banks.
According to official statistics, Turkey’s traffic, which purchased 31 tons, increased the share of gold in its reserves by 29%. In second place is Uzbekistan, in third is Qatar. However, China itself reported that in November 2019 it increased its gold reserves by purchasing 32 tons for $1.8 billion. According to the FT, gold miners believe that China has almost certainly acquired more. According to Mark Bristow, CEO of the second largest gold mining company in the world, Barrick Gold, Beijing has purchased about 200 tons of gold.
Experts have suggested that Russia has also increased its purchases of gold from its business, which has faced difficulties due to the collection. It is alleged that Russia produces about 300 tons of gold per year, while the domestic market accounts for about 50 tons. Although, as financed by the FT, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said earlier that Russia has a sufficient amount of funds in gold and yuan.
Adrian Ash believes that buying gold with distrust and doubts due to the decision of the US and its allies to freeze Russia’s reserves.
As the newspaper recalls, in 1967, the last time there was such an active purchase of gold, European central banks bought a large amount of gold in the US, which made a jump in the price and the collapse of the London gold reserve. It also led to the abandonment of the Bretton Woods system, in which the dollar was privy to the precious metal.