Generally, when uncertainty increases in the world, gold is considered the safest investment. This is the reason why along with the common people, the central banks of the world have also been buying gold on a large scale. But this year the figures of January have surprised everyone. According to the latest report of the World Gold Council, while in the last one year the central banks were buying an average of 27 tonnes of gold every month, in January this purchase came down to only 5 tonnes. This decline indicates that at present there has been increased caution regarding gold purchase.
Experts believe that sharp fluctuations in gold prices and some seasonal reasons forced the central banks to stop and think. Geopolitical tension still persists, but despite this the slowing down of purchases shows that banks are currently working on a strategy to keep their reserves balanced. That is, it would be too early to say that complete distance is being maintained from sleep, but the pace has definitely slowed down.
Uzbekistan is at the forefront
Uzbekistan was the country that bought the most gold in January. Central Bank of Uzbekistan added about 9 tonnes of gold to its reserves. With this, its total gold reserves increased to 399 tonnes. The special thing is that now the share of gold in its foreign exchange reserves has increased to 86%, which was about 57% in 2020. This increase shows that some countries are still betting big on gold.
Strategy of Malaysia and China
Malaysia has also increased its gold reserves after many years. Bank Negara Malaysia bought 3 tonnes of gold, increasing its total reserves to 42 tonnes. Although this is only about 5% of its total reserves, yet this step points towards preparations for the future.
At the same time, People’s Bank of China bought 1 ton of gold in January. China has been continuing the purchase of gold for 15 consecutive months. Now the share of gold in its total foreign exchange reserves has reached around 10%. This stance of China shows that it wants to diversify its reserves by separating them from dollars.
Steps taken by Russia and other countries
On the other hand, Bank of Russia was the biggest seller in January. He sold 9 tons of gold from his reserves. It is believed that this step may be due to the need for foreign exchange or part of strategic rebalancing. Apart from this, after adopting Euro, Bulgaria transferred 2 tonnes of gold to the European Central Bank.
Bank of Korea has also indicated that it may include physical gold ETFs listed in foreign markets in its foreign reserve portfolio from the first quarter of 2026. It currently has 104 tonnes of physical gold, which is about 4% of the total reserve. This will be its first major gold-related step since 2013.
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