Bullish on bullion: Serbia joins global gold-buying spree, adding more of the precious metal to its coffers

The Central Bank of Serbia has announced it purchased nine tons of gold in October, following the lead of regulators across the world, including Russia and China. Serbia's gold holdings now make up ten percent of total reserves.

“We have completed gold purchase transactions and Serbia is safer today, with 30.4 tons of gold worth around €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion),” the Central Bank Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic told reporters. “For now, we have no plans to buy more.”

According to Tabakovic, the acquisition is the latest in a series of moves by the country to shore up its financial stability by changing the structure of its foreign debt and increasing the share of dinars and euros. The central bank paid €395 million ($434.3 million) for the gold, or $1,503-an-ounce, she said.

The bank has recently upgraded its 2019 economic growth forecast to 3.6 percent from 3.5 percent. It cited higher domestic demand, which is counterbalancing a slowdown in most of the European Union.

Heightened global tensions, currency wars and the course of de-dollarization have been pushing global central banks to boost their gold purchases. Global purchases of the precious metal totaled 547.5 tons in the third quarter of 2019 and the booming trend is likely to continue in the coming years. Russia, China and Turkey saw the largest increases, according to World Gold Council (WGC) data.

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