These are the best gold IRAs of 2023. Filograph/Getty Images
Published November 1, 2023
- Central banks are buying a lot of gold, and China is leading the pack, the World Gold Council said.
- The move is part of a broad shift away from dollar reserves but is also stoked by inflation and economic uncertainty.
- The annual total of gold purchases by central could surpass a record set last year, the Council said.
Central banks around the world are on a gold-buying spree, and China is outpacing them all.
The bullion binge comes as part of a broad effort this year of countries trying to diversify reserves away from the dollar, as well as attempts by some nations to de-dollarize trade relationships by conducting transactions in local currencies.
“With central bank demand resuming its voracious pace after a slower Q2, we expect the annual total to approach last year’s record, and there’s an outside possibility it will exceed that figure,” the World Gold Council wrote in its third-quarter report on the market for the precious metal.
According to the Council, central banks have bought 800 tonnes of gold so far this year, up 14% from last year at this point. A whopping 181 tonnes out of that total comes from China alone. The country’s central bank holds a total of 2,192 tonnes.
The total amount purchased by central banks last quarter is the highest in 2023 amid an already booming year for gold buying.
Demand for the yellow metal has been rising as central banks attempt to diversify their reserves away from the US dollar. This trend, along with some countries trying to de-dollarize their trade relationships, has resulted in a broad push away from the greenback in 2023.
Since the US leveraged the strength of the dollar to slam Russia with sanctions, lock its banks out of the SWIFT system, and freeze billions in foreign reserves after the country invaded Ukraine, many countries have taken notice and tried to shift their economies away from reliance on the US currency.
China has been a proponent of de-dollarization, ramping up currency swaps and non-dollar agreements with other countries. Beijing has also been slashing its holdings of US Treasurys.
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SOURCE: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/dedollarization-china-yuan-gold-us-dollar-reserves-currency-central-bank-2023-10#:~:text=China%20is%20leading%20a%20’voracious,try%20to%20shrink%20dollar%20reserves&text=Central%20banks%20are%20buying%20a,by%20inflation%20and%20economic%20uncertainty.
RELATED: China signals zero tolerance for sharp economic slowdown with rare steps
The government increased its headline deficit on Tuesday to the largest in three decades and unveiled a sovereign debt package that marked a shift from its traditional growth model.
Published October 25, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that a sharp slowdown in growth and lingering deflationary risks won’t be tolerated, making a series of rare policy moves to boost sentiment in the world’s second largest-economy.
The government increased its headline deficit on Tuesday to the largest in three decades and unveiled a sovereign debt package that marked a shift from its traditional growth model. Xi also made an unprecedented trip to the central bank — sending a powerful message about his focus on the economy.
The one-trillion-yuan budget boost and willingness to exceed a long-adhered to 3% debt-to-GDP limit displayed a determination by Beijing to shore up growth for 2024 and avoid complacency. That comes even after strong economic data published this month put the government on target for its 5% goal this year. China will next week hold a twice-a-decade financial policy gathering that may provide more policy clarity.
“The landing of the surprising policy despite surprising third-quarter GDP data may be due to policymakers’ acknowledgment that the pressure to stabilize growth next year will increase,” Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co. analysts including Jia Dongxu wrote in note late Tuesday.
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SOURCE: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/china-signals-zero-tolerance-for-sharp-economic-slowdown-with-rare-steps-11595351.html
RELATED: China’s third-quarter growth exceeds forecast, consumer spending and industrial production offer hope
Published October 17, 2023
- China posted 4.9% growth in the July to September quarter from a year earlier, stronger than the median forecast for 4.6%.
- Quarter on quarter, China’s GDP grew 1.3% in the third quarter, following revised second-quarter growth of 0.5%.
- September retail sales, industrial production activity were more robust than expected.
- Fixed asset investment in the first nine months of the year slightly disappointed as property investment tumbled 9.1% in the January-September period.
China’s third-quarter economic growth came in stronger than expected, boosting hopes that the world’s second-largest economy will meet or even exceed Beijing’s target for about 5% this year.
Economic activity has shown signs of stabilization in recent data. On Wednesday, September data for retail sales and industrial production also bested median forecasts, with the cumulative fixed asset investment print for the first nine months this year slightly below expectations.
China posted 4.9% growth in the July to September quarter from a year earlier, according to a release from China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
That’s stronger than economists expectations for third-quarter GDP of 4.6%, according to a Reuters poll. This follows the 6.3% print for the April-June quarter and 4.5% growth for the January-March quarter.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s economy grew 1.3% in the third quarter, stronger than economists’ expectations for a 0.9% growth. Second-quarter GDP growth was revised to 0.5%.
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SOURCE: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/18/china-economy-q3-gdp.html
