Central banks buying gold

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Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Thailand spent a collective $1.52bn (£942m) buying 26.7 tons of gold. However, the Mexican central bank was a seller, reducing its holding by 0.1 ton, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Thailand's gold reserves rose 11pc to 152.41 tons and Bolivia's bullion reserves increased 17pc to 49.34 tons. Bolivia increased its holdings by 5pc to tons and Tajikistan's bullion stockpile increased 26pc to 4.74 tons.
...
The International Monetary Fund has been selling gold to boost its war chest for lending. Sales stopped in December last year.

Full report: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/8858493/Central-banks-top-up-gold-reserves.html
 
Bolivia has more gold than Peru! Bummer!

Actually, about a year I was in Peru and read an article in one of their papers that wondered WHERE Peru's gold was... Nobody had done an audit, the Peruvian .gov wasn't saying, etc. Sounds like the USA and Ft. Knox!
 
...
According to data from the IMF, central banks continue to be significant net buyers of gold. Mexico has added most to its reserves, with a net 83.7T of gold between January and September 2011, followed by Russia, which has added 59.3T this year, and Thailand, which has added 52.9T (see chart).

gc%202_4.png


Central Bank Purchases of Gold So Far in 2011

Many market participants and non gold and silver experts tend to focus on the daily fluctuations and “noise” of the market and not see the “big picture” major change in the fundamental supply and demand situation in the bullion markets – particularly due to investment and central bank demand from China, India and the rest of an increasingly wealthy Asia.

The central banks of India and China are rightly believed to be again quietly accumulating gold and the IMF figures do not include this potentially very important and significant source of demand.
...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/centr...red-purchases-206-tons-through-september-2011
 
You can tell that they are not really "Czech" brothers because they are not drinking Pilsner Urquell. Hey just an old photo interpreter observing this...
 
News from the Financial Times via ZH:
...
Data from the Hong Kong government showed that China imported a record 56.9 tonnes in September, a sixfold increase from 2010. Monthly gold imports for most of 2010 and this year run at about 10 tonnes, but buying jumped in July, August and September. In the three-month period, China imported from Hong Kong about 140 tonnes, more than the roughly 120 tonnes for the whole 2010.
...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/china...er-gold-price-drop-imports-record-amount-gold

How do you say "tradition" in Chinese?

:gold:
 
The Chinese basically dumped treasuries and replaced them with metals. Screw the CDS market, china doesn't want counter part risk.
 
World's largest gold consumer India's imports this year is likely to hit the 1000 ton mark, analysts said.

According to country's leading gold body, the Bombay Bullion Association,gold imports may be between 950 metric tons and 1,000 tons this year after country's consumption rose to a record 963.1 tons last year.
...

More: http://www.bullionstreet.com/news/india-all-set-to-break-1000-ton-mark-in-gold-imports/104

A significant portion of India's demand is for jewelry, not necessarily central bank or investment demand.
 
The Central Bank of Russia has purchased 90 metric tons of gold to date in 2011 and is on course to buy 100 tons before the end of the year, deputy head of the bank Sergey Shevtsov said as quoted by the bank's press service.

The bank said earlier it would aim at buying 100 tons of gold every year and increase the proportion of gold in the country's reserves as a safeguard against volatility on the international financial markets.
...

http://www.morningstar.com/advisor/...bank-aims-to-buy-100-tons-of-gold-in-2011.htm
 
Currency Wars - Russia Officially Adds 19.5 Tonnes of Gold Reserves in October Alone

...
Market participants continue to be surprised by gold’s continuing weakness and some are even questioning gold’s safe haven status. However, the fundamentals of broad based global physical demand remain very sound as evidenced by the central bank gold buying data today.

Russia bought 19.5 metric tons of gold in October bringing their total gold reserves to 871.1 tons according to IMF data released today.

Belarus increased holdings by 1 ton, Colombia by 1.2 tons, Kazakhstan by 3.2 tons and Mexico by 0.9 ton, the data show. Germany reduced reserves by 4.7 tons and Tajikistan cut reserves by 0.4 ton, the data show.

Thus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Belarus and Mexico added a combined 25.7 metric tons of gold to reserves in October, after gold prices corrected from record highs.
...
Bloomberg reports that Kazakhstan’s assets increased 3.2 tons to 73.6 tons, Colombia’s gained 1.2 tons to 10.4 tons, Belarus expanded assets by 1 ton to 31.9 tons and Mexico added 0.9 ton to take holdings to 106.3 tons, the data show. Germany cut reserves by 4.7 tons to mint commemorative coins and Tajikistan cut 0.4 ton of gold.

Germany’s gold reserves are at 3,396.3 tons, the IMF data show. The country is the second-biggest holder after the U.S., according to the World Gold Council. A Bundesbank spokesman confirmed the sale German gold and said it was done to mint commemorative coins, which is the only reason it sold bullion during the past few years.

Central banks are expanding reserves for the first time in a generation due to unprecedented monetary and systemic risk.

Purchases may reach 450 tons this year, according to the World Gold Council. Central banks and government institutions officially bought 142 tons last year, IMF data shows.
...

More: http://www.goldcore.com/goldcore_bl...y-adds-195-tonnes-gold-reserves-october-alone
 
Bug,

Also,A significant portion of India's demand is for jewelry, not necessarily central bank or investment demand.

That is rapidly changing, their people are switching to bars.

Also,I am sure most here know China & India alone account for 38% of TOTAL Gold purchases worldwide.India,and China are also now sucking up Silver at a ferocious pace.

The vast export of Chinese silver exports do not come from THEIR mines,it comes from tailings shipped in from overseas by the untold tons (that are SO toxic) no other nations will allow their people to extract it.
This is due to the chemicals needed to do so.

The Chinese .gub,are oblivious to losing their citizens, in the process.
 
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Bug,

Also,A significant portion of India's demand is for jewelry, not necessarily central bank or investment demand.
Jewelry and investments are not entirely separate. In many cultures the wife's jewelry is their savings.
 
^^ Brings whole new perspective to the term gold digger. "Don't divorce me babe". :paperbag:
 
Chinese govt advise gold buying - why? What is their plan?

They are apparently scared of the people getting cross with them when their paper savings goes down the plughole with all other fiats.

At odds with those cuddly, people friendly, Western Gov's then .....
 
They are apparently scared of the people getting cross with them when their paper savings goes down the plughole with all other fiats.

At odds with those cuddly, people friendly, Western Gov's then .....
If the Chinese leadership is encouraging PM investments in order to avoid social unrest in their country then they are wiser than I had ever imagined. Now if we could get HR 1098 passed maybe we would have the chance to avoid that same unrest.
 
If the Chinese leadership is encouraging PM investments in order to avoid social unrest in their country then they are wiser than I had ever imagined. Now if we could get HR 1098 passed maybe we would have the chance to avoid that same unrest.

Its also a smart way to build your countrys total gold holding.

In the event of a worldwide relaunch of currencies with gold backing, its probably less important who holds the gold as long as its within your country.

Ok theres a new class of wealthy but when was that ever a problem for Govs ?

The new rich will be happy to spend it and create economic activity.
 
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bank-...massive-nearly-1-billion-or-39-november-alone

The Bank of Korea’s continued diversification of its foreign exchange reserves is a bullish factor which may have led to the price gains today.

The central bank of South Korea announced that it had purchased 15 metric tonnes of gold in November to raise its reserve of bullion in an effort to diversify its portfolio of its foreign reserve investment and reduce risks caused by market volatilities.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), it made a purchase of 15 tons of gold last month to increase the nation’s gold reserves to 54.4 tons worth $2.17 billion as of the end of November.

It boosted the size of its gold reserves by US$850mn in November, up a massive 39% from the previous month. Its total gold reserves are now worth US$2.17bn.
 
I just saw Derek´s above post, and so I cross-post the below from another pmbug thread:



Zero Hedger ¨Smiddywesson¨ today had some interesting comments about gold (in the Korean Central Bank buying gold thread).

He says that perhaps the reason they have not done an audit of Ft. Knox and/or the Fed is that maybe we have MORE gold than claimed!

I have found Smiddywesson to be a very knowledgeable commentator there at ZH, take a look at that thread:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bank-...-billion-or-39-november-alone#comment-1938154
 
Turkey lifted its gold reserves by a hefty 1.328 million troy ounces, or 30 percent, last month as central banks around the world maintained their positions as net buyers of the precious metal.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund, the Turkish central bank increased its gold reserves to 5.758 million ounces in November, from 4.429 million ounces the month prior. This followed a rise of 697,000 ounces in October, the latest IMF figures show.

While the Turkish central bank wasn't available for immediate comment Friday regarding its recent reserve increases, it announced in November that it had begun to accept gold in its reserve requirements from commercial banks. Under the policy change, banks are allowed to hold a maximum 10 percent of their Turkish lira reserve requirements in gold, which it said would free up around 5.5 billion lira ($2.91 billion) in liquidity to the market.
...
Meanwhile, Russia also continued its program of gold accumulation in November, lifting its holdings a further 81,000 ounces to 28.086 million ounces. Russia's reserves, having been added to every month so far in 2011, are now up 11 percent on the start of the year.

In January the Central Bank of Russia's press service said the bank planned to buy 100 metric tons, or around 3.2 million ounces, of gold per year from domestic banks in order to bolster reserves. Russia is the world's eighth-largest official holder of the precious metal, which accounts for around 9 percent of its foreign reserves.

Emerging market central banks have been buying gold in reaction to the sovereign-debt crises affecting the U.S. dollar and the euro, analysts say. Demand has also risen strongly in recent quarters as some seek to diversify foreign-exchange reserves that have grown along with emerging market export industries.

Tajikistan last month added 10,000 ounces of gold to its reserves, counterbalancing a reduction of 12,000 ounces reported the prior month. Its reserves now stand at 150,000 ounces, according to IMF data.

Macedonia, Belarus, Mauritius, and Greece also reported small additions to their reserves for November, while Mexico and Slovenia recorded minor reductions.

Metals consultancy GFMS recently forecast that central banks could buy nearly 500 metric tons, or around 16 million ounces, of gold this year.

Total central bank gold purchases in the third quarter were more than double the level in the second quarter and almost seven times higher than the same period of last year, at 148.4 metric tons, or 4.8 million ounces, according to a report last month from the WGC. The body said it expects central banks to continue to be net buyers of gold in the fourth quarter, as well as next year.
...

http://gata.org/node/10815

I wonder how much of that supposed buying is actual physical gold and how much is paper claims to gold.
 
this was first brought to my attention on Turds site, it is extremely interesting -

http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/995-lawsuit-end-tyranny

it actually made mainstream press briefly before it all got ignored to death.

Most of you will probably run a mile from David Wilcock's site and put Benjamin Fulford in the same category.

I use dowsing to ascertain relevance / truthfulness / integrity of such people and the information they appear to have access to.

Fulford asserts that there are large amounts of gold that are not 'recognised' by the controllers. Dowsing seems to confirm this.

Now my question is, what impact does the admission of these large quantities of gold have on the value of what we hold as individuals, in the event of paper becoming worthless ? :flushed:
 
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The Chinese basically dumped treasuries and replaced them with metals. Screw the CDS market, china doesn't want counter part risk.

The Chinese govt. holds about 1.5 trilion dollars in US treasuries and bonds; only 37.2 million oz of gold. They buy a little a time. But they are far, faar, faaar away from dumping treasuries. Can you imagine the price of gold if they were to park 1.5 trillion dollars into gold? there is no guide book to evaluate the impact for that amount of sudden influx. i say gold would be 30,000 dollars/oz if that were to happen. but its just a guess/gut feeling.

if the price of 30k/oz seems unrealistic, please consider also what impact the SALE of 1.5 trillion worth of treasuries will have on the value of the dollar.

:popcorn::cheers::wave::flushed:
 
I believe the Chinese are surreptitiously buying not only gold, but silver. There is no way that a population exceeding a billion persons, whose government is encouraging them to buy gold and silver, have not accumulated an enormous quantity of metal. Put another way, the Communist Chinese are smarter than anyone really gives them credit for. Who is to say that they are not currently encouraging their people to buy up precious metals, an ounce at a time, only to make ownership illegal, and demand everyone 'turn in' their illegal metals during some pre-defined 'grace period'.

It has happened before, and if it happens in China, we could find out all of a sudden, that China has secretly acquired thousands and thousands of tons of metal.

Remember, while the U.S.A. only looks at things through the next election cycle, the Chinese plan for the next hundred years. I secretly fear that the next world hegemon will be China.
 
http://gata.org/node/10815

I wonder how much of that supposed buying is actual physical gold and how much is paper claims to gold.

This is something that I wonder quite often, and would love to learn more about.

For example, when a country buys large quantities of gold, such as 100k ounces or 1M ounces, do they really have many options on where to buy said gold?

One place of course is the IMF central banks, but certainly that would be only a paper receipt for a claim on the gold. Are there really ANY other sources where an entity can buy 1M+ oz of gold, especially in physical form?
 
90% of Dutch Gold Reserve Is Held Abroad
Article includes Dutch TV interview with Jim Rickards
http://www.marketupdate.nl/nieuws/valutacrisis/90-of-dutch-gold-reserve-is-held-abroad/
In a follow-up by "Nieuwsuur" Friday night (see below), Knot disclosed that some 67 tons of Netherlands government gold, worth 3 billion euros, is kept in Amsterdam. Knot acknowledged on camera that this is only a small portion of the Dutch gold reserve. For practical reasons, he said, most of the 612.5 tons of official gold reserve is held abroad, so that "if the Dutch central bank wants to sell some of its gold, we don't have to ship it."
...
Financial analyst Jim Rickards' book "Currency Wars" caught the attention of "Nieuwsuur" and the program, interviewing him from New York, asked about the possible confiscation of foreign gold reserves by their custodian, the U.S. government. Rickards told about the U.S. Defense Department's financial war games and summarized elegantly: "U.S. lawyers have an expression: Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and since we possess the gold ... then we're 90 percent on the way to owning it." Rickards estimates that perhaps 100 to 200 tons of gold are located in New York.
...
But Knot took a different position. He said the Dutch gold has always been safe in New York and that Dutch-American relations have always been good. Asked if despite these good relations, it still would be wise to relocate the gold, Knot answered resolutely, "No."
...
Some important questions remain unanswered. Just how much Dutch gold is located in New York, Ottawa, and London? Exactly who has custody? Are the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada the custodians of our gold or has our gold been transferred to the custody of third parties such as bullion banks HSBC, JP Morgan, and Scotia Mocatta?
http://www.marketupdate.nl/nieuws/v...-nederlandse-goudreserve-in-de-kluis-van-dnb/
 
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============
PRESS RELEASE
============

The Central Bank of DoChenRollingBearing (CBoDCRB) announces that it has 0 (zero) ounces of its gold held abroad by foreign Central Banks and similar.

The CBoDCRB also announces that it will be joining its brethren Central Banks in buying more gold.

The CBoDCRB also clarified that it will not be buying Sovereign Debt of other countries. The only foreign currency in the CBoDCRB is a single 500 Euro banknote.
 
Ok Ben Fulford seems like a wingnut but his assertion that the monsters from Jeykell Island only 'counted' the gold of those who were prepared to play by their rules, is worthy of consideration.

He claims that there are several large gold deposits that exist but are not 'acknowledged' by the powerz and goes on to list some of them and their historic sources.

Sooooo, if theres any truth in this claim then it certainly changes things if any 'reset' and new gold backed currency is launched, cos the holders of any such gold would likely want at least some of it 'counted' so they could finally benefit from the legacy.

Just saying, cos the central banks could already be tapping into such sources and when the time comes to 'show da world wot u got' we might just need a few more swimming pools to store it all in.

Or am i wrong in thinking a worldwide audit of all gold ( used as backing) has to occur if a new gold backed currency is launched ?
 
A little late to the thread, but I just have to comment Re: They store most of it abroad so that if the central bank wants to sell some, they don't have to ship it......................WTF??

What the hell is so hard about sending one of your warships to the port, and having a contingent of soldiers armed with .556 select fire carbines and a squad of snipers along the route armed with 338 LaPua's to pick off anyone stupid enough to even think about stealing the gold. Aren't those soldiers getting paid anyway? I mean really, if they're in the barracks shooting craps in the laundry room or on a security detail......where exactly is the additional cost? Does your warship not patrol the seas anyway, thereby consuming fuel?

I find the "transportation" argument to be a complete canard. No, I believe they hold a shitload abroad because of very old promises, backed by their reserves, as would have happenned directly after WWII.
 
not even a floating gold standard, per FOFOA ?

I doubt it very much. With the debt levels we have today which govt will risk its meager gold reserves? Gold will just be lost and it would be impossible for any govt to pay its debts in gold. Imagine the interest rates in gold they will have to pay, why all their gold will slip through their fingers. And they will need austerity measures that would make Margaret Thatcher look like a spendthrift keynesian on steroids.

http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock global debts are so big they can only be serviced through inflation, not through even a hybrid gold standard. While i am a gold and silver bug, i believe the days of a precious metal standard, pure or hybrid are gone. At least for this generation.

But what do i know, im not a prophet and my crystal ball has cracked. heheeh :paperbag:
 
Silvergug

I agree it is impossible to use a floating gold standard to cover all the worlds debt.

I see some kind of reset that cancels most of the debt ( theft by banksters) as inevitable, based on the immortal 'if it cant continue, it wont' thinking.

Any future means of exchange will demand something tangible to back it as, even with limited attention span and memory, enough will realise paper is not the answer.
 
Well here is my take on FOFOA, gold standard, etc.

His prediction (and he says it is almost inevitable) is that the 100x paper gold claims on each physical ounce (and maybe other things could happen too) will at some point "break" paper gold, which means that "paper gold" may very well go WAY down (as paper gold becomes worth less or even "worthless"), while physical gold goes into hiding... Until the markets settle down, and we will find that physical gold will only be available at a price of $55,000 (FOFOA even gives a 2 standard deviation range: $25,000 - $85,000).

At $25,000, that would make the FED's gold (currently valued at $11 bn @ $42.22 / oz) worth a cool $595 bn. Also, if Ft. Knox (etc. storage of US gold) has the 8000 tons, that number works out to a similar $440 bn.

Double those numbers if we go to 55k.

FOFOA believes that hyperinflation is ALMOST inevitable as well.

He DOES NOT back a gold standard! Too inflexible, and it would likely get abused anyway (fractional bullion banking).

It is impossible for me to summarize his logic, it is too big a topic, his Freegold idea. You will have to tackle the subject on its own at his blog:

fofoa.blogspot.com

---

Also, note how Greece (and Italy, or even the USA) have very mum about using their gold to pay down their debts. Why? Because they do not feel that current price is actually the true value of their gold!

In fact, I have not seen EVEN ONE .gov entity anywhere offer to settle their debts in gold! That means something... I think that means that gold will go WAY UP!
 
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-27/markets/30560564_1_gold-price-assets-reserves

Chinese Central Banker Declares That 'Gold Is The Only Safe Haven Left'

China is making an even bigger move toward gold in reaction to money printing around the world (via @JamesGRickards).
People's Bank of China official Zhang Jianhua declared yesterday: "No asset is safe now. The only choice to hedge risks is to hold hard currency - gold."
Zhang, the bank's research director, recommended buying the dips: "The Chinese government should not only be cautious of the imported risk caused by rising global inflation, but also further optimize its foreign-exchange portfolio and purchase gold assets when the gold price shows a favorable fluctuation."
 
China, who plan for the next hundred years, instead of for the next election cycle, has always been a step ahead of us. While they subjugate their people and do unspeakable things to prisoners, their financial model is to be envied. They have amassed the largest war chest in the history of modern man, and are using it to buy up the natural resources of the world, instead of using it to wage perpetual war for the extreme profit of the few.

Something to think about. Perhaps......they're right?
 
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