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Our guess is people are probably asking because since the 2008 financial crisis net gold purchases by global central banks have switched from negative (i.e. they were selling), to positive (i.e. they are buying).
Central Banks Buy Record Amounts of Gold in 2022
In the weekend Bloomberg reported that:
The People’s Bank of China [PBOC]raised its holdings by 30 tons in December, according to data on its website on Saturday. This follows November’s addition of 32 tons, and brings the nation’s holdings to a total of 2,010 tons.
Source.
The PBOC only spasmodically updates its gold holdings. The last time was in 2019 and before that 2016. There is also a decent argument to made that China likely holds gold in vehicles that it does not report on either.
But it’s not just the Chinese central bank buying gold. The below chart shows global central bank gold purchases just up to September 2022. So this doesn’t even include the Chinese purchases in November and December. It’s still at a record that is 150 tonnes higher than the previous high in 2018.
Here’s a look back even further to 2008 to show just how significant the buying from central banks in 2022 has been:
So is the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Also Buying Gold?
Well we’re sorry to report folks, the news isn’t so great.
| New Zealand’s International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity | |
| (Information is disclosed in NZD 000’s) | |
| I. Official reserve assets and other foreign currency assets (approximate market value) | |
| Description | Nov_22 |
| A. Official reserve assets | 23,623,482 |
| (1) Foreign currency reserves (in convertible foreign currencies) | 18,203,603 |
| (a) Securities | 7,815,222 |
| of which: issuer headquartered in reporting country but located abroad | – |
| (b) total currency and deposits with: | 10,388,382 |
| (i) other national central banks, BIS and IMF | 10,384,326 |
| (ii) banks headquartered in the reporting country | – |
| of which: located abroad | – |
| (iii) banks headquartered outside the reporting country | 4,056 |
| of which: located in the reporting country | – |
| (2) IMF reserve position | 750,158 |
| (3) SDRs | 4,547,455 |
| (4) gold (including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped) | – |
| volume in fine troy ounces | – |
| (5) other reserve assets | 122,266 |
| financial derivatives | (755,949) |
| loans to non-bank non-residents | – |
| other | 878,215 |
| B. Other foreign currency assets | 1,257,171 |
| securities not included in official reserve assets | – |
| deposits not included in official reserve assets | 1,572,656 |
| loans not included in official reserve assets | – |
| financial derivatives not included in official reserve assets | (315,485) |
| gold not included in official reserve assets | – |
| other | – |
Last time we checked a dash didn’t mean that the number was too big to report! But was rather a simple alternative for the number zero. So according to the RBNZ website, New Zealand has $0 worth of gold deposits from a grand total of zero fine troy ounces of gold.
The RBNZ Confirms No Gold Reserves in Official Information Act Request
On the 12 September 2019, the RBNZ also confirmed in an Official Information Act request that “the Reserve Bank does not hold any gold as reserves.”
How Does New Zealand Compare to the Leading Gold Holding Nations?
The below chart shows the gold reserves of 20 largest gold holding countries worldwide as of March 2022 (in metric tons). The smallest – Thailand – has 244.16 tons of gold.
Source: Statista
The Top 100 Gold Holders
Further confirmation of New Zealand’s total gold reserves comes from the World Gold Council. They periodically take information compiled by the IMF to create a ranking of gold deposits of countries.
The lazy mans research site – Wikipedia means we don’t have to look too hard for the latest figures though. The table below ranks each nation according to it’s officially reported gold holdings as of November 2009.
We can save you some time searching and state that unfortunately New Zealand does not feature – at all.
Note: Wikipedia doesn’t appear to have a top 100 list anymore. It’s now just a top 50. However Trading Economics now does. The holdings of each country has not changed to dramatically since 2009. You can see that list here. We can however confirm as of 2023, New Zealand still has zero gold reserves.
It’s a bit of a worry when Haiti, which the world bank reports as the poorest country in the Latin American and Caribbean region and among the poorest countries in the world, recently had more gold reserves than New Zealand does!
While even our small pacific neighbour Fiji has 0.03 tonnes!
Fiji may come in at number 104 on the list and only have 0.03 tonnes but that’s 0.03 tonnes more than us! (Or about $2.85 Million NZD in Gold reserves more than New Zealand).
Just like we believe the average person should have at least a small percentage of their liquid net worth held in gold, we too think the RBNZ would be wise to convert some of its foreign currency reserves into real money. Thereby ensuring a store of value in a time when currencies the world over are being depreciated at ever greater speed.
Read more: Why New Zealand Won’t Have Any Say in a Global Currency Reset
Why the RBNZ is Very Unlikely to Buy Gold
However, it’s very unlikely that the New Zealand central bank will buy any gold in the future. Even though so many other central banks have been doing just that since 2009. Why do we think that?
Because back in 2012 a reader forwarded us an email from the RBNZ that said:
Dear Jake
Thank you for your question and apologies for the delay in responding.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has not held any gold reserves since 1991.
Our reserves management responsibilities are set out in the Reserve Bank Act of 1989 and our foreign reserve targets are specified by the Minister of Finance. The Reserve Bank is not, at this stage, planning to include gold in our foreign reserve portfolio. The Reserve Bank’s position is that gold does not meet our liquidity requirements.
Kind regards
Raewyn Peters
Knowledge Adviser | Reserve Bank of New Zealand
2 The Terrace, Wellington 6011 | P O Box 2498, Wellington 6140
T. +64 4 472 2029 | F. +64 4 471 3722
www.rbnz.govt.nz
Interesting that gold does not meet the RBNZ’s “liquidity requirements”. Even though gold can be sold at a moments notice and turned into cash. So the odds of a turn around from the Reserve Bank on buying gold looks slim indeed.
So best you prepare yourself and become your own central bank and buy some gold or silver.
Editors note: This post was first published 5 December 2009. Last updated 11 January 2023 with new charts and numbers and addition of 2022 central bank gold buying charts.
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