Hungary triples gold reserves as central banks turn buyers again

Hungary tripled its gold reserves in one of the biggest purchases by a central bank in decades — the latest sign of governments turning to the precious metal as a safeguard of value.

The monetary authority raised its bullion holdings to 94.5 tons last month, it said in an emailed statement. At the same time, the latest data from the World Gold Council showed global central banks were net buyers of gold in February, led by India, which bought 11.2 tons.

Central banks helped underpin for gold prices for most of the last decade, but flipped to net sellers in the third quarter of 2020 as some producing nations cashed in on surging prices driven by investment demand.