Central banks globally have been accumulating gold reserves at a furious pace last seen 55 years ago when the U.S. dollar was still backed by gold. According to the World Gold Council (WGC) central banks bought a record 399 tonnes of gold worth around $20 billion in the third quarter of 2022, with global demand for the precious metal back to pre-pandemic levels.
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday by 75 basis points for the fourth straight meeting while hinting at a potential slower pace in the future as the central bank continues to try to tame multi-decade highs in inflation.
The Federal Reserve is seen slowing its aggressive rate-hike pace in December, with data published Thursday offering new evidence that the economic slowdown that the central bank is trying to engineer is getting underway.
A combination of high inflation and slowing growth is setting the U.S. on a path to stagflation, according to a renowned former Federal Reserve economist Stephen Roach.