Singapore's central bank has added 26 tonnes of physical gold to the nation's reserves, but strangely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has only disclosed the information as of last Thursday.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) disclosed it had acquired 26.35 tonnes between May and June 2021, which work out to be equivalent to 20% of the nation's overall holdings previously. This takes the new total to 153.76 tonnes (4,943,441 ounces) of gold held in vault.
The information was brought to light by Krishan Gopaul of the World Gold Council (WGC) last week, but further investigation does show that the MAS monthly report about such purchases did disclose the addition of the gold to the country's reserves at the time. It's fair for the media to have missed such a purchase, given normally eyes are on the IMF or the WGC, but surprising that the IMF themselves missed the notification.
The expectation from the likes of the World Gold Council and other precious metals analysts is that more and more countries will likely diversify their national reserves and bolster holdings with gold given the economic turmoil ongoing at present, but they will most likely wait until the New Year before any meaningful action is taken.
