Iraq made its first major move in years to bolster its gold reserves in recent months, while Brazil increased its holdings of bullion by almost a third in November, data from the International Monetary Fund showed.
The IMF's monthly statistics report showed Iraq's gold holdings quadrupled to 31.07 tons over the course of three months between August and October.
In the first change in its reserve in years, the country added some 23.9 tons in August, bringing the total to 29.7 tons. That was followed by a 2.3-tonne rise in September to 32.09 tons and then by a cut of 1.02 tons in October to 31.07 tons. There was no data for November.
More recently, Brazil raised its gold holdings by 14.68 tons, or 28 percent, in November, bringing its bullion reserves to 67.19 tons, data showed.
The addition comes on the heels of an even bigger increase in October when the South American country added 17.17 tons to its reserves. In September, it increased holdings by 2 tons.
Meanwhile Turkey cut its gold holdings last month by 5.84 tons to 314 tons from October. The country allows commercial banks to use gold as collateral for loans, and changes to its balance sheet are often connected to such activity.
Belarus upped its reserves by 1.39 tons to 42.7 tons, while Russia, which had both bought and sold gold on a number of occasions this year, increased its holdings by 2.86 tons to 937.8 tons.
Central bank buying of gold has been a major support to gold prices, which hit record highs a year ago.
Prices have come under pressure from heavy liquidation by hedge funds this week. Signs of an improving U.S. economy have triggered selling. Prices fell below $1,650 an ounce on Thursday for the first time since August.
Reuters
20 December
