What is the reason for the central bank's hoarding of gold as China's gold reserves have increased for the 14th consecutive month-瞭望新时代网-瞭望时代，放眼世界

What is the reason for the central bank's hoarding of gold as China's gold reserves have increased for the 14th consecutive month

2024-01-12

On January 7th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released data showing that as of the end of December 2023, the size of China's gold reserves was 71.87 million ounces, an increase of 290000 ounces compared to the previous month, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase in China's gold reserves. It is worth noting that global gold demand will continue to be strong in 2023, and there are clear signs of central banks actively increasing their gold reserves, with plans to further increase their holdings of gold reserves. China's gold reserves have increased month by month since November 2022, with a total increase of 9.23 million ounces. According to An Kai, Global Research Director of the World Gold Council, gold, as a reserve asset, has the characteristics of safety, liquidity, low volatility, and excellent returns. It can help holders hedge risks, effectively improve the performance of investment portfolios, and provide stable and high returns for investors. This is an important reason why central banks continue to purchase gold. Under the influence of multiple factors such as central bank purchases from multiple countries around the world and the expected increase in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, gold prices have performed well. The price of gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange has risen by over 13% for the entire year of 2023. "From a historical perspective, in the later stage of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, gold has performed strongly, and the central bank will increase its demand for gold reserves." Lou Feipeng, a researcher at Postal Savings Bank, said that in recent years, the global economic recovery has faced uncertainty, geopolitical conflicts have increased risks and hidden dangers, highlighting the value of gold as a safe haven asset. The central bank has increased its demand for gold in reserve assets. At the same time, the central bank promotes diversification of reserve assets to better diversify risks and also helps to increase demand for gold. Wu Dan, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, believes that increasing holdings of gold is of great significance for optimizing China's reserve asset structure, coordinating the safety and profitability of foreign exchange reserve assets, and so on. The value of gold reserve assets is less affected by inflation, financial risks, or geopolitical factors, and has the characteristics of stable value, strong liquidity, and high return rate. Therefore, increasing holdings of gold is beneficial for improving the central bank's reserve asset management ability, diversifying the risk of foreign exchange reserve assets, and maintaining the safety and scale stability of foreign exchange reserve assets. Looking ahead, interviewed experts believe that the central bank's "gold hoarding fever" may continue. The World Gold Council report shows that according to the 2023 global central bank gold reserve survey results, over 70% of the surveyed central banks expect global gold reserves to increase in the next 12 months. "The doubling of demand from central banks and official institutions worldwide for purchasing gold has brought significant structural changes to the gold market." Ankai believes that factors such as geopolitical risks, sanctions risks, and the multipolarity of the global reserve currency system have driven the trend of central banks purchasing gold, which may last for many years or even decades and is expected to further support the performance of gold. At the same time, gold has dual attributes as an investment tool, luxury goods, and jewelry making material. Therefore, as an important component of foreign exchange reserves, the central bank helps to drive up demand for gold, whether for investment or consumption purposes. Experts also believe that there is still significant room for improvement in the diversification of China's reserve assets, and in the current complex and severe external environment, from the perspective of diversified asset allocation, it is still necessary to increase holdings in gold. At present, China's yellow

Edit：He Chuanning Responsible editor：Su Suiyue

Source：ECONOMIC DAILY

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