Russia has added more gold to its foreign reserves, making December the ninth month in a row that it has bought the yellow metal. Russia’s gold holdings are now the largest they’ve been in two decades, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The Netherlands also joined the gold buying party in December, boosting its gold holdings for the first time since 1998. It has the ninth largest gold reserves in the world. Smaller countries have also been stocking up on the yellow metal. Kazakhstan added to its reserves for the 27th straight month. Malaysia, Belarus, Greece, Kyrgyz Republic, and Serbia also bought gold.
Meanwhile, the general public’s appetite for silver has stayed strong in the past month. The latest data from the US Mint puts American Silver Eagle sales at the highest in three months. In fact, January sales at the Mint have already surpassed last year’s figure – 5.13 million ounces this year, and only 4.78 million ounces in January of 2014. It looks like we could be well on our way to another record year for US Mint silver sales if this pace keeps up.
