Government gold stocks have doubled in just a year.
Gold is one of the most reliable and stable commodities on the international markets.
And with the international instability of recent years caused by Covid and the war in Ukraine, among other factors, gold looks like a good bet for investment.
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The Government’s investment gurus in the Department of Finance may have realised this too, as the Central Bank has increased the stock of gold bullion from six tonnes this time last year to 12 tonnes at the end of June this year.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said they had changed their investment strategy in order to achieve better “diversification” across the national assets portfolio.
The spokesman said: “the Central Bank of Ireland holds a portfolio of investment assets dominated by investments in traditional assets such as fixed income securities, together with smaller holdings in other suitable asset classes, including gold.
“The Bank’s investment assets contribute to maintaining its financial independence in respect of operating costs, alongside other income streams such as the regulatory levy and income derived from monetary policy implementation.
“Over the past several years, the Central Bank has made a number of changes to its investment assets in order to increase diversification across asset classes.
“These changes have been achieved through the reinvestment of maturing funds in a broader range of international bond markets, a small allocation to equities plus a further allocation to gold.
“The Central Bank does not hold any precious metals and/or receivables other than gold.
The department’s spokesman added: “the goal of diversifying asset holdings is to support the long-term resilience of the Bank’s balance sheet and to underpin future earnings.
“All developments within the Bank’s investment assets are reported in its published accounts each year.
“Gold does not constitute a major investment for the Central Bank of Ireland and despite the recent asset reallocation, the Bank’s holdings of gold in relation to balance sheet size remain below those of many other Eurosystem central banks.
NATIONAL GOLD STOCKS
(Amounts in metric tonnes)
End Q2 2021 - 6
End Q3 2021 - 7
End Q4 2021 - 9.5
End Q1 2022 - 12
End Q2 2022 - 12
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