Economics

Central Bankers Get Tired of Gold as Lower Exports Cut Cash

  • Purchases plunged 40% in second quarter to lowest since 2011
  • Bank’s share of world demand shrank to 9% from 13% last year
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
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The biggest owners of gold are tiring of the metal.

Central banks -- holders of about 32,900 metric tons of bullion -- cut their purchases by 40 percent during the three months through June, compared with the same period a year earlier, to the lowest since 2011, World Gold Council figures compiled by Bloomberg show. It was the third-straight quarterly drop, the longest such streak in at least five years.