Gold to Replace the US Dollar India, China Beef Up Reserves _ Vantage with Palki Sharma

Our next story is about gold .

It's on fire .

Prices have touched a record high this week .

Yesterday , gold prices in India crossed the 73,000 mark .

73,000 rupees , that's around 875 US dollars for 10 grams of pure gold .

At the beginning of this year , the price was hovering around 65,000 rupees , almost 780 US dollars .

So India has seen a sharp increase .

What about the international markets ?

Same story .

Globally , gold prices are up by over 16% , and what's driving this rally ?

The world's central banks , they're buying gold in large quantities , and they've been at it for a while .

It started with China almost 2 years ago .

China's central bank is called the People's Bank of China or the PBC .

It has embarked on a gold buying spree , and how much gold have they bought ?

225 metric tons in 2023 alone .

Beijing bought more gold than any other central bank last year , and Beijing is not done yet .

From January to April , China added more gold to its reserve .

In fact , since November 2022 , they've been piling it up .

As of today , they have more than 2,200 tons of gold .

China has 2,200 tons of gold .

Why do they need so much of it ?

What is driving this buying spree ?

Fear , perhaps .

Recent geopolitical tensions , specifically what happened with Russia .

When Russia invaded Ukraine , the west cracked down on Moscow's reserves .

They went after Russia's financial assets .

These assets were being held by western institutions .

We are talking about some $300,000,000,000 Russian wealth controlled by the west , $300,000,000,000 This was part of Russia's foreign exchange reserves .

The west froze all these accounts , so Moscow can no longer access its own money .

In fact , there's also talk of giving this money to Ukraine .

It's been proposed many times .

Give this blocked Russian money to Ukraine .

So far , western powers have resisted .

Irrespective , Russia does not have access to its money , and Beijing sees this as a cautionary tale .

So So it's losing faith in western financial institutions and buying gold as an insurance , a potential hedge against western financial instruments like the American dollar .

China still holds a large reserve of the American currency .

As of last month , they had over $3,000,000,000,000 So Beijing has not completely given up on the greenback , but it's diversifying , and it's not the only one doing so , diversifying reserves and stocking up on for 8 consecutive months .

And which are these banks ?

Turkey , India , Kazakhstan , Jordan , and the Czech Republic .

Each of them bought more than 1 ton of gold recently , and in this list , India stands out .

Its gold purchases have surged , touching almost a 2 year high last month .

In recent months , India has bought more than 13 tons of gold .

So how much gold does the Reserve Bank of India have ?

More than 800 tons as of January 2024 , 800 tons of gold with the RBI .

This is believed to be worth more than $50,000,000,000 Now India's overall reserves in March stood at around $645,000,000,000 And given this number , $645,000,000,000 the value of gold reserves may not be significant , but its its rise is , and there is a clear shift .

Central banks around the world want to cut risks .

They want diversified reserves where they don't have to depend on a single currency or instrument .

So if you're looking to buy gold to invest in it , what should you do ?

Is it a good time to buy ?

Well , if you're price sensitive , you may want to wait .

The gold market is expected to remain volatile .

Prices have already touched record highs , and experts predict more growth through the year .

Banks like JPMorgan predict a peak next year in the second half of twenty twenty five .

So if you're planning a major gold purchase , if there's a wedding in your family or if you're just looking to park some cash , chances are , you'll have to shell out more money .

But if you're just looking to make a quick buck , exercise caution .

Just like the central banks of the world , don't put all your eggs in 1 basket .

Think about diversifying your portfolio .