World Gold Council survey: More central banks plan to increase their holdings of gold reserves According to Golden Finance, on June 16th, the World Gold Council (WGC) announced on Tuesday that 45% of central banks surveyed by the association expect to increase their gold holdings in the next 12 months, an increase of 2 percentage points from a year ago. In the annual survey conducted by WGC from February 5th to May 19th, 54% of the 74 central banks stated that their gold holdings would remain unchanged, while 1% of central banks expected their gold holdings to decrease. Most of the responses were received after the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in late February, which triggered an increase in oil prices and led to a decline in gold prices. The head of the WGC Global Central Bank stated that central banks around the world are still enthusiastic about gold, and the recent decline in gold prices has not changed their minds. In addition, WGC stated that 93% of respondents indicated that they already hold gold, up from 81% a year ago. Among the many reasons that contribute to holding gold, up to 90% of respondents stated that gold performs well during times of crisis. Other main reasons include long-term value storage and portfolio diversification. 85% of respondents from emerging markets and developing economies place greater emphasis on the role of gold as a geopolitical risk hedging tool. As some central banks continue to transfer their gold reserves, 9% of respondents stated that they have increased their domestic gold reserves in the past 12 months, up from 5% last year; 10% of respondents stated that they have diversified their overseas gold reserves, up from 2% last year. In the next 12 months, 7% of central banks plan to increase domestic storage and 9% plan to diversify overseas storage locations.