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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.
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The International Monetary Fund has been selling gold to boost its war chest for lending. Sales stopped in December last year.
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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).
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Currency Wars - Russia Officially Adds 19.5 Tonnes of Gold Reserves in October Alone
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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.
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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.
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Jewelry and investments are not entirely separate. In many cultures the wife's jewelry is their savings.Bug,
Also,A significant portion of India's demand is for jewelry, not necessarily central bank or investment demand.
Chinese govt advise gold buying - why? What is their plan?
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.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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
... comments reported in China Daily from a senior official at the People’s Bank of China (PBC) – the country’s central bank – indicating that the Chinese government should continue acquiring gold as a means of diversifying its foreign exchange reserves, as a means of moving away from US dollar and euro denominated assets. ...
http://www.marketupdate.nl/nieuws/v...-nederlandse-goudreserve-in-de-kluis-van-dnb/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."
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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.
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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."
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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?
But no, there won`t be any gold standard.
not even a floating gold standard, per FOFOA ?
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