Which COUNTRY Now Owns the MOST GOLD?

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According to the latest World Gold Council data, in 2014 the world’s central banks went on a golden shopping binge to take advantage of the ongoing dumping in paper ETF gold, resulting in bank net purchases amounted to 477 tonnes over the past year, a 17% above 2013’s 409 tonnes. 

This was the second highest year of central bank net purchases for 50 years, coming second only to the 544 tonnes added to global gold reserves in 2012.

Who took the biggest advantage of the depressed gold price? One name sticks out: spot it on the chart below:

 

From the World Gold Council:

Russia had by far the greatest appetite amongst those who raised gold reserves. The country accumulated an additional 173t (36% of total central bank demand in 2014) over a turbulent 12 months. 2014 was bookended by tension and uncertainty for the country: geopolitical antagonism with the Ukraine, and the resulting international sanctions, at the beginning of the year was followed by severe economic distress towards the end.

Kazakhstan (48t), Iraq (48t) and Azerbaijan (10t) were also notable for the size of purchases made. Fortification and diversification of reserves, namely away from the US dollar, continues to be the driving force behind this activity.

But there is much more here than meets the eye, and the biggest wildcard remains as usual China. Because after its gold-buying splurge, Russia currently has – according to official data – more gold, 1,208.2 tonnes in its, and certainly not the NY Fed’s vault – than China. The problem, is that China’s gold holdings were last updated officially in early 2009.
 

And as everyone following the physical gold space knows, there are really just two key, outstanding questions:
 

1. What is the updated total inventory of Chinese gold holdings (estimated to be somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 or more tonnes), and
2. Just what is the Peoples Bank of China waiting for and when will it reveal this number?

With global geopolitical events moving ever faster, and with “developed world” central banks increasingly losing control almost on a daily basis, China may have to answer both questions relatively soon.
 

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