Mine output rose modestly by 1% in 2023 to 3644.4 tons, but it still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. These countries were the top 10 gold producers in 2023.
1. It's in the Fed's best interest to extend the prosperity phase of the economic cycle. 2. The Fed's biggest source of income is interest on U.S. government securities.
Given what is happening in the gold market more generally, it appears reasonable to assume that the Federal Reserve is the BIS' customer for these gold transactions.
A gold ETF is backed by metal owned and stored by the issuer. In most cases, investing in an ETF does not entitle you to any amount of physical gold. You own a share of the ETF, not gold itself.
Remember, the Fed’s targeted inflation rate is 2%. Inflation needs to be falling to somewhere close to 2%, for the Fed to consider lowering interest rates, having raised them 11 times since spring 2022.
