The Bernank has been busy.
"Central banks' move from net sellers of gold, to net buyers that we have seen in recent years, has continued apace. The official central bank purchases across the world are now at their highest level for almost half a century."
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Central Banks Last Year Bought The Most Gold Since 1964
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The world's central banks last year bought 534.6 tons of gold in 2012, the most since 1964, as global gold demand hit a record value level, the World Gold Council said Thursday in a quarterly report. Purchases by central banks for the full year rose 17% compared with 2011, while fourth-quarter purchases of 145 tons marked a 29% rise from the same period a year earlier.
"Central banks' move from net sellers of gold to net buyers that we have seen in recent years has continued apace," with official sector purchases across the world now at their highest level for almost half a century, said Marcus Grubb, managing director for investment at the World Gold Council. In value terms, total gold demand in 2012 was $236.4 billion, an all-time high, the council said.
Read the full press release from the World Gold Council...
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World Gold Council 2012 Report:
Gold demand hits record value level.
$236 billion, and change.
Report was released yesterday. Director Marcus Grubb discusses the findings for Q4 and fulll year 2012. In value terms, global gold demand in 2012 was $236.4 billionn -- an all-time high. Gold demand in value terms for the final quarter of the year was 6% higher year-on-year at $66.2 billion, marking the highest ever Q4 total.
Read the full press release from the World Gold Council...
Related stories:
Revealed: Why Gordon Brown sold Britain's gold at less than $300 per ounce
Excerpt
One globally significant US bank in particular is understood to have been heavily short on two tonnes of gold, enough to call into question its solvency if redemption occurred at the prevailing price.
Goldman Sachs, which is not understood to have been significantly short on gold itself, is rumoured to have approached the Treasury to explain the situation through its then head of commodities Gavyn Davies, later chairman of the BBC and married to Sue Nye who ran Brown’s private office.
Faced with the prospect of a global collapse in the banking system, the Chancellor took the decision to bail out the banks by dumping Britain’s gold, forcing the price down and allowing the banks to buy back gold at a profit, thus meeting their borrowing obligations.
Russia Bought More Gold Than China - When Prices Were Much Lower
Not only has Vladimir Putin made Russia the world’s largest oil producer, he’s also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
"The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there’s a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency," Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin’s United Russia party.
