Opinions Mixed On Whether PBOC To Announce Increased Gold Holdings

By Kitco News
Friday January 17, 2014 9:42 AM

(Kitco News) -So will they or won’t they? Time will tell.

China’s central bank has become a talking point in the gold market during the latter part of the week, with analysts offering mixed opinions on whether the People’s Bank of China will release a report on increased official-sector gold holdings this spring.

Data on the World Gold Council’s website lists Chinese official-sector gold holdings at 1,054.10 metric tons. This was the amount announced by Chinese authorities back in April 2009.

Jeffrey Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors, said late Thursday on his  NicholsOnGold blog that “we hear that the country’s central bank will soon announce a substantial increase” in official gold holdings, which would bring the total to some 2,710 tons at the end of last year. This would make China the world’s fourth-largest holder of official-sector gold reserves in the world, he said.

“NicholsOnGold has long held the view that China’s central bank…has been surreptitiously adding to its official gold reserves,” he wrote.

Nichols later added: “Now, it seems, we will soon learn it bought a total of 654 tons in 2009 through 2011, another 388 tons in 2012, and more than 622 tons last year,” he said. “Much of this has come from domestic mine production and secondary supply.”

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http://www.kitco.com/news/2014-01-17/Opinions-Mixed-On-Whether-PBOC-To-Announce-Increased-Gold-Holdings.html