Philippines And Serbia Join Global Gold Hunt To Move Away From US Dollar Standard

The Philippines and Serbia have just joined the current global trend to boost national gold reserves. The two nations are just the latest to accumulate bullion in what appears to be a global attempt to shift away from the US dollar standard.

The Central Bank of the Philippines has announced that a newly-passed law exempts gold sales by small-scale miners to the bank from excise duties and income taxes. Likewise, Belgrade will reportedly increase its gold reserves from 20 to 30 tons by the end of 2019. The two nations appear to be taking the cue from Russia and China that have been acquiring gold by the ton starting last month.

More countries are now aiming to acquire more gold reserves to shift away from the US dollar.

According to the report, the Philippines has an ulterior motive for boosting gold reserves. In addition to an effort to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves, the law could also prevent smuggling.

In the Philippines, small-scale miners can circumvent taxes by selling gold in the black market. However, the new law will entitle them to sell all produced gold to the country’s central bank at world market prices. For now, the Philippines’ gold reserves remain unchanged at about 198 tons in the first quarter of 2019.

As for Serbia, the county plans to boost its gold holding to approximately 50 tons by the end of 2020. This serves as a safety measure although the National Bank of Serbia statistics show foreign exchange reserves are currently worth €11 billion.

The first countries to boost their gold reserves were China and Russia.

Before the Philippines and Serbia, India had followed Russia and China’s lead. The country bought 8.2 tons of the yellow metal so far in 2019. Back in 2018, the Reserve Bank of India reportedly purchased 42.3 tons of gold. Interestingly, the regulator currently holds 608.7 tons of the yellow metal which accounts for about seven percent of India’s foreign exchange reserves.