Central bank gold reserves ramping up
Equities also on the rise, but remain idiosyncratic
Currency and sovereign debt typically make up most – but not all – of a central bank’s reserve portfolio. All respondents to the Reserve Benchmarks 2026 allocate a portion of their reserves to at least one other category, with bank deposits (82%), supranational debt (82%) and gold (76%) seeing the highest participation rates.
Gold, despite coming in third, has shown the strongest growth: the share of central banks holding the precious metal has increased by nearly 50% since 2024, when just over
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