Gold as a Percentage of Balance Sheet Size in Central Banks (ranked)

Gold as a percentage of balance sheet size in Central Banks (ranked):

+ Japan (MoF + BoJ): ≈2.4%

+ China (PBoC): ≈4.5%

+ U.S. (Fed gold certificates): ≈15.9%

+ European Union (ECB + Eurosystem): ≈19.4%

+ Russia (BoR): ≈36.1%

Conclusions you can take from here:

- China's current gold reserves are small relative to its central bank balance sheet and ambitions for the renminbi, so the PBoC is likely to keep buying gold for years to move closer to a gold-backed reserve-currency profile.

- Russia has accumulated large reserves that will allow a strong expansion of ruble credit once trade normalizes, likely triggering a rally in Russian capital markets.

- The EU is relatively well-positioned but should both grow its gold reserves and deepen its capital markets (e.g., via CMU) to strengthen the euro’s appeal as a reserve currency.