Beijing: China increased its gold hoard in January, raising its holdings by 0.9 per cent to 57.18 million ounces from 56.66 million ounces a month earlier, according to the People’s Bank of China.
The monetary authority has added 7.2 per cent to its gold assets since announcing in July a 57 per cent jump since 2009. China holds the fifth-biggest tonnage by country and is buying bullion to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves.
Russia and Kazakhstan have also been increasing their hoard. Russia boosted its holdings by about 17 per cent to 45.5 million ounces in 2015, and Kazakhstan added 16 per cent. While global bullion prices climbed 5.4 per cent in January for their best month in a year, they were still trading near the lowest level since 2010. China increased its holdings even as the foreign-exchange reserves fell to $3.23 trillion (Dh11.86 trillion) in January from $3.33 trillion in December.
