The Wall Street Journal
by Liam Pleven, Se Young Lee and In-Soo Nam
Central banks are ramping up their gold buying as they seek to diversify their reserves away from the dollar and other beleaguered currencies.
South Korea became the latest government to disclose a big bullion purchase, saying Tuesday that it recently bought 25 metric tons - more than doubling its holdings to 39 metric tons. Mexico, Russia and Thailand have also been major buyers in 2011.
This year, governments have almost tripled their net gold purchases, increasing their holdings by 203.5 metric tons this year, up from a 76-metric ton rise last year, according to the World Gold Council, an industry group backed by miners.
The demand marks a major shift in central banks' thinking about gold. Increasingly, they see bullion as protection against risks posed by declining paper currencies and global economic upheaval, and their vast resources and conservative bent make them a powerful force in the gold market. LINK...
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As we have said HERE many times, families should become their own "Central Bankers." BK
