South Korea's central bank to buy gold from domestic producers

Seoul, August 3: South Korea's central bank plans to purchase gold from domestic producers in a bid to diversify its supply sources and boost its gold reserves, it announced on Monday. The Bank of Korea has set up a framework for domestic gold acquisitions in collaboration with Korea Exchange and Korea Securities Depository. It intends to procure gold at international market rates through transactions, payments, and deposit systems of KRX and KSD.

The bank anticipates that these purchases will have a minimal effect on the local gold trading prices, as it intends to acquire gold meant for exports at contract prices exclusively. According to the bank, these acquisitions will bolster its foreign reserves management. This marks the central bank's first domestic gold purchases in 13 years, as per local media reports.