China PBOC Buys Gold For 17th Month As Prices Hit Record

Gold bars for sale inside a Luk Fook Holdings International Ltd. jewelry store in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Weighing as little as one gram, the beans — and other forms of gold jewelry — are increasingly viewed as the safest investment bet for young Chinese in an era of economic uncertainty. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- China's central bank purchased gold for its reserves for a 17th straight month in March, extending a long buying spree that has helped the precious metal's surge to a record.

Bullion held by the People's Bank of China rose to 72.74 million fine troy ounces last month, according to official data released Sunday.

The precious metal has been on a tear in the past two months, hitting a procession of records on expectations that lower US interest rates are on the horizon. Central bank buying has also been a significant driver of its strength since 2022.

Global central banks, led by China and India, continued adding to their gold reserves in February, marking a ninth straight month of growth, according to the World Gold Council.

China's official reserve assets rose to the highest since November 2015. The country's foreign exchange reserves rose to $3.2457 trillion by the end of March, the highest since December 2021, as the central bank aims to maintain stable holdings to fend off risks. They rose 0.6% from February and were up 1.9% from a year earlier.

--With assistance from Lorretta Chen.

(Adds latest foreign reserve figures in final paragraph.)

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