yolowire.com – Central banks around the world continue to buy gold, pushing the price of the precious metal to near-record highs.
The price of gold bullion is currently at $2,372.80 US per ounce, close to an all-time high, just above $2,400 US per ounce.
The price of gold has risen in recent trading sessions as hopes grow that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September.
In recent days, both the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank have cut their key interest rates by 25 basis points due to a slowdown in inflation.
At the same time, central banks around the world continue to rapidly buy gold, along with the US dollar, the world’s reserve currency.
The latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that global central bank gold reserves rose by a net 33 tonnes in April this year.
Moreover, central banks’ sales of gold fell from 36 tonnes in March to just three tonnes in April.
In total, eight central banks around the world increased their gold reserves by one tonne or more in April. Major buyers included central banks in India, Poland, Singapore and Russia.
These increases in purchasing were partially offset by a slowdown in gold purchases by the People’s Bank of China.
Analysts say that with geopolitical uncertainty rising and interest rates falling, central banks are likely to continue to ramp up their gold purchases in the coming months.
