Gold News you may have missed:

 

Central banks bought 16 tonnes of gold in March; Sovereign Wealth Funds are getting in on the action – WGC

Central bank demand continues to transform the gold market as official sector purchases increased by a net 16 tonnes in March, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.

 

The updated monthly purchasing data was released less than a week after the WGC published its Gold Demand Trends for the first quarter, showing that central banks bought 290 tonnes in the first quarter – the strongest start to any year on record.

 

However, it’s not just central banks that are getting in on the gold action. The WGC noted that the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan bought 3 tonnes of gold year-to-day. And the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Kazakhstan also each augmented their reserves by 4 tonnes. This indicates a persistent interest in gold across diverse economic contexts, from rapidly developing economies to established financial hubs.

The Big Short’s Michael Burry makes a $10 million bet in Sprott Physical Gold Trust

According to updated regulatory filings, Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management is now betting big on precious metals. In the first quarter, Burry bought 444,000 units of the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), which is valued at more than $10 million.

Scion’s PHYS holding represents slightly more than 7% of total holdings.

Zimbabwe introduces new gold-backed currency to tackle inflation

Zimbabwe has replaced its collapsed local dollar with a new gold-backed currency, the latest move by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to tackle decades of monetary chaos. 

John Mushayavanhu, governor of the southern African nation’s central bank, admitted on Friday that money printing had wrecked the five-year-old Zimbabwe dollar as he launched the ZiG, its replacement. 

BRICS members India and Russia ditched the US dollar and settled payments worth $4 billion in local currencies. Russian exporters purchased Indian-made arms and equipment for defense purposes and cleared the payment using the rupee. The US dollar played no role in the cross-border trade making local currencies the sole beneficiary of the transactions.

Meanwhile: Putin Casts Russia and China as Defenders of Stability

Visiting Beijing, Russian leader seeks to shore up united front with Xi Jinping against Western pressure.Looming over Xi’s meeting with Putin this week are Western threats of more sweeping actions against his country if it continues sending certain goods to Russia. The US government says dual-use exports are enabling Russia to build up its defense industry.

“Russia is fundamental to China’s grand strategy,” said Manoj Kewalramani, who heads Indo-Pacific studies at the Takshashila Institution research center in Bangalore. While Beijing doesn’t want escalation, “there is a deep interest in making sure that Russia doesn’t lose the war,” he said.