China's central bank pauses gold purchases

China’s central bank held back on buying gold for its reserves for a fourth straight month in August, official data showed on Saturday.

China’s gold holdings stood at 72.8 million fine troy ounces at the end of last month. The value of the gold reserves, however, rose to $182.98 billion compared with $176.64 billion at the end of July.

Gold prices have been rising this year amid bets that U.S. rate cuts are imminent and due to safe-haven demand driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, with central banks making robust purchases.

Gold prices have surged 21% so far this year and are hovering slightly below a record high of $2,531.60 hit on Aug. 20.

Prior to the pause in its purchases, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had bought gold for 18 consecutive months.

The central bank was the world’s largest single buyer of gold in 2023 and its decision to put its buying on hold has helped mute Chinese investor demand in recent months. [GOL/AS] The PBOC is expected to resume purchases at some point despite high prices due to political, rather than economical, motivations, such as its desire to be less dependent on the U.S. dollar as a reserve asset, said Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer.