According to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC), in the second quarter of 2021, central banks of different countries around the world were actively buying gold, replenishing their gold and foreign exchange reserves. According to the WGC, the main buyers of gold in the period from April to June were the central banks of developing countries: Thailand (90.2 tons), Hungary (62 tons), Brazil (53.7 tons), India (29 tons) and Uzbekistan (25.5 tons). Analysts explain this by the fact that regulators are trying to hedge against growing inflation, especially in the context of low interest rates on public debt in most countries. Another incentive for purchases was the desire to diversify its own international reserves. At the same time, it is noted that some central banks, on the contrary, sold off their gold reserves, but in much smaller volumes. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation sold metal for 3.1 tons, the German Bundesbank – for 3.3 tons, the Kazakhstani regulator – for 9.9 tons. The organization also noted that in the second quarter, not only the demand, but also the supply of gold increased: by 13%, to 1,172 tons, and this was mainly due to the growth in the extraction of precious metals.
