Central banks do not agree with the bearish views that most of you have expressed.
Central banks added 463 tons of gold to global reserves in 2021. That was 82% higher than in 2020.
A WGC survey found that “gold’s performance during a time of crisis and its role as a long-term store of value/inflation hedge are key determinants in the decisions of central banks to hold it.”
Last year was the 12th consecutive year of net purchases. Over that time, central banks have bought a net total of 5,692 tons of gold.
Central Banks Add Gold for Fifth Straight MonthWhat you are ignoring is that the price of gold is manipulated:
"The manipulation of gold prices began on 5 August 1993," the German analyst points out, and the reason was none other than an agreement between different central banks and the then chairman of the US Federal Reserve-FED, Alan Greenspan, "who did not want the price of an ounce of gold to exceed 400 dollars" because an uncontrolled increase in the price of gold could affect the "inflation thermometer". So this agreement was in place for several years, and materialised by acting on the markets with orders to sell and lend gold with the blessing and participation of other central banks, which, he recalls, "work closely with private banks and financial institutions".
The way of operating and manipulating prices was "very simple", because these entities possessed significant amounts of gold that they used to control, if not lower, the price of gold, "expelling potential buyers" of the metal from the market who did not see the expected return on their investments. For Speck, states are the first to benefit from these practices, especially the US because its currency, the dollar, "is the world's reference currency" and gold is the main rival to loan-based currencies. "A rising gold price accentuates the debt and deficits of states", especially in the US.
¿Quién manipula los precios del oro y por qué? (I have translated the quote from Spanish into English.)
Having a little gold is not a bad thing. You can't pay for your groceries with it but you can convert it to cash instantly in any medium-sized city in the world. And even in small towns, if there is a jewellery shop or similar, even if it does not advertise itself as a gold dealer, it is quite likely that they will accept it.