The drop in gold prices in November, after Donald Trump won the US presidential election, offered a number of central banks the opportunity to accumulate the precious metal.
However, the buying was limited to banks that were active in the months leading up to November, said Krishan Gopaul, Senior Analyst, EMEA, World Gold Council (WGC).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought eight tonnes of gold in November and continued its accumulation of reserves into 2024. In total, RBI bought 73 tonnes of gold between January and November 2024, emerging as the second largest buyer after the National Bank of Poland (NBP). ). RBI’s total holdings of the yellow metal as of end-November 2024 are estimated at 876 tonnes.
China resumes buying
In November, the NBP increased its gold reserves by 21 tons. Purchases in the January-November period now stand at 90 tonnes, taking total reserves to 448 tonnes – 18 percent of total reserves, Gopaul said.
One of the notable features of the November purchases was the resumption of gold purchases by the People Bank of China (PBoC) after six months. The Chinese bank added five thousand euros to its reserves. In total, it bought 34 tonnes through November, bringing its reported gold holdings to 2,264 tonnes. The precious metal makes up about 5 percent of China’s reserves.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan was another that bought after three months, purchasing nine tons in November. The first addition since July brought total gold purchases through November 2024 to 11 tons and total gold reserves to 382 tons.
For the second month in a row, the National Bank of Kazakhstan increased the gold reserves in its reserves by purchasing five tons. This made the bank a net buyer for the first time in 2024. The total holdings of the precious metal amount to 295 tons.
Singapore sells
On the other hand, the Monetary Authority of Singapore was the biggest seller in November, cutting its reserves by 5 tonnes. Total sales in 2024 through November amounted to seven tons and total gold reserves fell to 223 tons.
The Central Bank of Jordan, among others, bought tons – the first monthly increase in four months; the Central Bank of Turkey bought three tons and the Czech National Bank two tons.
The Bank of Ghana is accumulating the yellow metal through a domestic gold purchasing program. It bought one tonne in November and till November it bought 10 tonnes.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Finland cut its gold reserves by 10 percent to 44 tons in December. It said exchange rate risk was the most important and foreign exchange reserves significantly increased exchange rate risk.
“…so the Bank is strengthening its foreign exchange supply by selling about 10 percent of its gold reserves.” This brought gold reserves to their lowest level since December 1984.
