Central banks added 77 tonnes of gold to their reserves in August, the third consecutive month of strong buying, the World Gold Council reported. The big buyers were China, Poland, Czech Republic, the Russian Federation and Singapore. Net sellers included Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Germany and Mexico. The council said buying in 2023 could match last year’s record demand. It said the big increase in purchasing last year and this year reflects a “rebalancing to a more preferred strategic level of gold holdings” amid concerns about increasing financial market risks and the persistence of high inflation. However, the council said buying has been limited to a relatively small number of central banks.  The Reserve Bank of Australia has 79.8 tonnes of gold in its reserves and has not substantially changed its gold holdings for many years.  Its holdings are small compared with countries like the United States, which has more than 8000 tones in its central bank reserves, Germany (3352 tonnes) and Italy, France, the Russian Federation and China which each have more than 2000 tones. Gold traded above US$2000 an ounce in March and April, the first time it has hit that level since early 2020. It is currently trading around US$1860 an ounce.