El Salvador adds $50M of gold to reserves

El Salvador’s central bank has added about $50 million worth of gold to its reserves as part of the nation’s strategy to increase holdings of the metal.

In a statement on Thursday, the Banco Central de Reserva said it bought another 9,298 troy ounces of gold for its reserves, bringing its total holdings to 67,403 ounces. At current prices, the value of those gold holdings is estimated at $350 million.

Gold is “a universally strategic reserve asset” that supports long-term financial stability and helps protect the economy from structural shifts in global markets, the central bank said in its statement.

President Nayib Bukele welcomed the gold purchases. “We just bought the other dip,” he responded in post on X, referring to the metal’s sharp decline during the session.

The purchase follows the central bank’s 13,999-ounce buy last September — its first since 1990. At the time, the gold purchase was valued also at $50 million.

In a further boost to its reserve holdings, El Salvador’s government said it also purchased more Bitcoin. The Central American is the first and only country to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender alongside the US dollar.

Arkham data shows that its current Bitcoin stack stands at 7,547, which at market prices are valued at $620 million.