Central banks continue to add gold to their reserves. Global central bank reserves increased by a net 28.4 tons in August, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council.
Gross central bank gold purchases came in at 30 tons.
Central banks globally added a net 199.2 tons of gold in the second quarter of 2021. That was the highest level of quarterly net purchases since Q2 2019 and 73% above the five-year quarterly average, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council.
Central banks added gold to their reserves in record amounts in 2018 and 2019, but buying slowed last year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The slower pace has continued into 2021, but buying is ahead of last year as many countries continue to load up on the yellow metal. The World Gold Council projects gold will continue to play an important role in central bank reserves in the coming year.
Well-known management consultant Peter Drucker perfectly described the predicament faced by central bankers.
You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
So why do we put so much faith in central bankers?
Central banks globally added another net 46.1 tons of gold to their reserves in March with the usual suspects making big purchases, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council.
The pace of central bank purchases seems to be increasing, although a few banks are doing the bulk of the buying. Globally, central banks upped purchases in March by about 10 tons over February’s total, which was 33% higher than January’s buying.
Central banks continued their gold-buying spree in February, although the pace of gold purchases has slowed compared to last year’s near-record purchases.
On net, central banks globally added another 36 tons of gold to their reserves in February, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council. That was about 33% higher than January’s total.
Central banks started out 2020 buying more gold, but the rate of purchases slowed somewhat.
On net, central banks added 21.5 tons of gold to their reserves in January, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.
Last year at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference, Peter Schiff bet Brent Johnson a gold coin that the Fed’s next move would be a rate cut. At this year’s conference, Peter collected his gold coin.
Brent and Peter went on to debate the future of the US dollar. Brent says the dollar will go up this year. Peter thinks it’s going down. Peter put his money where is mouth is and went double or nothing against the dollar.
Globally, central bank gold reserves charted another healthy gain in October as they continue their quest to diversify reserves away from the US dollar.
Central banks added another net 41.8 tons of gold to their reserves in October, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.
As I write this, the Federal Reserve is in the midst of its October FOMC meeting. The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates another 25 basis points. If the Fed follows through, it will be the third cut in three meetings, totaling 75 basis points since July.
Although the Fed continues to call this a “mid-cycle adjustment,” Peter Schiff called the rate cut in July the first one on the road to zero. There’s nothing so far to cast any doubt on that view.
But the Fed is not alone. It joins the majority of the world’s central banks on a race to lower rates and inject more easy money into the world’s economy. As of this month, a total of 54 central banks in both developed and emerging markets have cut their policy/base interest rates.
