"If gold is a relic of the past then why are central banks holding so much gold? Central banks hold, if we believe official statistics, around 20% of the global gold stock. Before the gold suppressing efforts began, they were holding 70%. Since the financial crisis of 2008, they have started to buy gold again. However, if we look at a chart of gold acquisitions by developing countries, they have started buying gold just after the Asian currency crisis in 1987. It seems that all the gold sold by developed countries was bought discretely by developing countries."