Brazil, Ukraine Buy Gold in Sept., emerging market CBs eager to diversify their reserves.
Published October 24, 2012
Dow Jones Newswires
The central banks of Brazil and Ukraine were the only notable official sector buyers of gold last month, as sales of the precious metal started to outpace purchases following several quarters of sustained demand from emerging market central banks eager to diversify their reserves.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are the largest sellers to have reported their activity so far, lowering their official gold holdings by a total of 129,000 troy ounces in September, according to data from the International Monetary Fund Thursday. This compares to 66,000 ounces bought by Brazil and Ukraine, the data show.
There were also some small sales last month from countries including the Czech Republic and Mexico.
Emerging market central banks have bumped up their holdings of the precious metal in recent years in reaction to the sovereign debt crises affecting traditional reserve currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the euro. This has helped to push up prices of the metal, by absorbing supply and boosting market sentiment, analysts say.
The IMF said holdings by Turkey's central bank rose 220,000 ounces during the month, however the bank has begun to accept gold as collateral from commercial banks, which market analysts say has been the main reason for recent increases, rather than market purchases.
The latest figures also showed Venezuela sold around 120,000 ounces of gold in August, its first sale in almost a year. Not all countries report their reserves to the IMF at the same time.
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