- Global central banks have been buying record amounts of gold as they seek to diversify reserves away from the dollar.
- “We expect central banks to continue their role as net purchasers of gold,” according to the head of gold strategy at State Street.
- The trend appears to be part of the broader de-dollarization drive, led by countries including China and Russia.
Global central banks have been snapping up record amounts of gold since the start of 2022 – a trend that should continue as countries look to move away from an “overconcentration” of reserves in the dollar, according to State Street Global Advisors.
Monetary authorities across nations made net purchases of 387 metric tons of the yellow metal in the first half of 2023, after buying an unprecedented 1,083 tons the whole of last year, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager said in a recent note.
In addition to reserve diversification, the trend is also driven by central banks’ desire to strengthen balance sheets and increase liquidity without adding credit risk, according to the firm.
“The reasons driving central bank gold purchases — to diversify their reserves, improve their balance sheets, and gain liquidity from an asset without credit risk — likely won’t change given today’s increasing economic and geopolitical risks,” Maxwell Gold, head of gold strategy at State Street, wrote in the note.
“Therefore, as we look ahead, we expect central banks to continue their role as net purchasers of gold,” he added.