Good day,
Five months ago, I sat down and recorded a podcast discussing something I believed deserved far more attention.
Central banks were buying gold. But the important question was WHY?
At the time, we discussed the forces that can drive demand for gold:
Currency weakness.
Inflation and the erosion of purchasing power.
Geopolitical conflict.
Government debt.
Bond market pressures.
And central banks diversifying their reserves.
Fast forward five months and look at the data.
According to the World Gold Council, central banks have purchased approximately 1,000 tonnes of gold per year on average over the last four years, around double the average of the previous decade.
In Q2 2026 alone, central banks made 289 tonnes of net gold purchases, 62% higher than Q2 2025.
And when central banks themselves were surveyed this year:
89% expected global central bank gold reserves to increase over the following 12 months.
74% expected the US dollar to represent a smaller proportion of global reserves in five years.
Now look at what happened this week.
On 19 August, the US Treasury announced that it will at least double the maximum size of certain liquidity support buybacks for longer dated US government bonds, from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation from September.
These are not predictions.
These are events that are happening now.
This is why I spend so much time looking beyond the daily gold price.
Understanding gold means understanding what can drive it.
Debt. Currency. Inflation. Interest rates. Bond markets. Geopolitical risk. And, increasingly, what the world's central banks are doing with their own reserves.
The podcast below was recorded five months ago.
Watch it now, with everything that has happened since, and I think it becomes considerably more relevant.
“Five months ago, we discussed why central banks were buying gold. Today, the data on gold demand, currencies, debt and bond markets is even more relevant.”
Watch from 7 minutes 45 seconds:
I am not saying gold can only go one way. It cannot. Gold prices can rise as well as fall.
What I am saying is much simpler:
Understand what the largest financial institutions in the world are doing, understand why they are doing it, and then make your own informed decision.
Kane White
CEO & Founder
Britannia Bullion
Sources: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026; World Gold Council, Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2026; US Department of the Treasury, 19 August 2026.
This communication is for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax or legal advice. The value of gold can fall as well as rise and you may receive back less than you paid. Past performance and historical market relationships are not reliable indicators of future performance. Always conduct your own research and consider your individual circumstances before making a purchase.