yolowire.com – Central banks around the world continue to buy Gold, helping to lift the price of the precious metal to near record highs.
The price of gold bullion is currently at $2,372.80 U.S. per ounce, close to its all-time high of just above $2,400 U.S. an ounce.
Gold’s price has been rising in recent trading sessions as hopes intensify that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this September.
In recent days, both the Bank of Canada and European Central Bank cut their key interest rates by 25 basis points amid a slowdown of inflation.
At the same time, central banks around the world continue to purchase gold at a brisk clip along with U.S. dollars, the world’s reserve currency.
The latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that global gold reserves held by central banks rose by a net 33 tons in April of this year.
Additionally, sales of gold by central banks declined to only three tons in April from 36 tons in March.
In all, eight central banks around the world increased their gold reserves by one ton or more during April. Major buyers included central banks in India, Poland, Singapore and Russia.
Those increases in buying were partially offset by a slowdown in gold purchases by the People’s Bank of China.
Analysts say that with geopolitical uncertainty on the rise and interest rates falling, central banks are likely to continue ramping up their gold purchases in coming months.