(Bloomberg) -- China’s central bank purchased gold for its reserves for a 17th straight month in March, extending a buying spree that has helped the precious metal surge to a record.

Bullion held by the People’s Bank of China rose 0.2% to 72.74 million troy ounces last month, according to official data released Sunday. It’s the smallest increase in the run of monthly purchases that began in November 2022.

The precious metal has been on a tear in the past two months, hitting a procession of records on expectations that lower US interest rates are on the horizon. Central bank buying has also been a significant driver of its strength since 2022.

Global central banks, led by China and India, continued adding to their gold reserves in February, marking a ninth straight month of growth, according to the World Gold Council. However, the figure for February showed a 58% decline from the previous month, stemming in part from a higher volume of sales.

China’s official reserve assets in March rose to the highest since November 2015. The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $3.2457 trillion, the highest since December 2021, as the central bank aims to maintain stable holdings to fend off risks. They rose 0.6% from February and were up 1.9% from a year earlier.

On the Wire

Gold’s scorching run to an all-time high may seem easy to explain from a distance, given the fractious geopolitical climate and murky outlook for the global economy.

A few weeks ago, when the gold price hit a record high, no one besides a few gold bugs seemed to care.

After a long day of berating the Chinese government about overcapacity in their economy, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng for a boat cruise on the Pearl River on Friday evening in the southern megacity of Guangzhou.

The Week’s Diary

Monday, April 8:

  • US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China
  • Global LNG & Hydrogen Conference & Exhibition in Beijing, day 1
  • European climate envoys speak on EU/China climate relations at German embassy Beijing, 17:30

Tuesday, April 9:

  • US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China
  • China to release March aggregate financing & money supply by April 15
  • Global LNG & Hydrogen Conference & Exhibition in Beijing, day 2

Wednesday, April 10:

  • CCTD’s weekly online briefing on Chinese coal, 15:00
  • Global LNG & Hydrogen Conference & Exhibition in Beijing, day 3

Thursday, Thursday April 11:

  • China inflation data for March, 09:30
  • China’s monthly CASDE crop supply-demand report

Friday, April 12:

  • China’s 1st batch of March trade data, including steel, aluminum & rare earth exports; steel, iron ore & copper imports; soybean, edible oil, rubber and meat & offal imports; oil, gas & coal imports; oil products imports & exports. ~11:00
  • China weekly iron ore port stockpiles
  • Shanghai exchange weekly commodities inventory, ~15:30
  • New Zealand Food Price Index

--With assistance from Lorretta Chen and Sybilla Gross.

(Updates with size of increase in second paragraph)

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