Central banks pile back into gold; analysts say dips may not last
Central banks across Europe and Asia are accelerating gold purchases again. Analysts say geopolitical tensions and a steady move to diversify away from dollar reserves mean dips in the spot price could prove short-lived.
Central bank net gold purchases accelerated again in April, according to fresh World Gold Council data. The Turkish central bank, the National Bank of Poland and the Czech National Bank are among the most active institutional buyers this round.
Three drivers underlie the buying: deepening geopolitical risk from the Iran war, lingering uncertainty from the US-EU tariff standoff, and a steady push to diversify away from dollar reserves. Several European central banks have also been adding gold as a hedge against wartime inflation that has proved stubbornly sticky.
Analysts argue that any pullback in the spot price could be quickly absorbed by sovereign demand. Citi and Goldman Sachs have raised their average gold price forecasts for end-2026, and the market is increasingly comfortable with the view that the underlying trend has turned structural rather than cyclical.
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