Central banks built up gold reserves in 2017

Central banks continued building up their gold reserves in 2017, with the majority of the purchases concentrated in Russia and Turkey, according to the World Gold Council.

The latest edition of the industry body’s Gold Demand Trends shows central bank net purchases totalled some 371 tonnes in 2017, 5% lower than the previous year but still the eighth consecutive year of net increases. Gold is currently trading at around $43 million a tonne, up from around $37 million at the start of 2017.

The