Svmuu News: The World Gold Council (WGC) said Tuesday that 45% of the central banks surveyed by the organization expect to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months, up 2 percentage points from a year ago. In the WGC’s annual survey, conducted from February 5 to May 19, 54% of the 74 central banks surveyed said their gold holdings would remain unchanged, while 1% expected their holdings to decline. Most responses were received after the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East in late February, which triggered a rise in oil prices and caused gold prices to fall. The WGC’s head of global central banks said that central banks remain keen on gold, and the recent decline in gold prices has not changed their minds. Furthermore, the WGC reported that 93% of respondents indicated they already hold gold, up from 81% a year ago. Among the many reasons cited for holding gold, as many as 90% of respondents cited gold’s strong performance during times of crisis. Other key reasons included long-term store of value and portfolio diversification. Respondents from emerging and developing economies (85%) placed greater emphasis on gold’s role as a hedge against geopolitical risks. As some central banks continue to relocate their gold reserves, 9% of respondents reported increasing their domestic gold reserves over the past 12 months, up from 5% last year; 10% of respondents indicated they have diversified the locations of their overseas gold reserves, up from 2% last year. Over the next 12 months, 7% of central banks plan to increase domestic storage, while 9% plan to diversify their overseas storage locations. (Jin Shi)