El Salvador pivots to gold for the first time since 1990, acquires 13,999 troy ounces ($50M) for diversification amid shifting global economic conditions. The Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador increased its total gold reserves from 44,106 troy ounces to 58,105 troy ounces.

El Salvador’s Central Reserve Bank (BCR) has boosted the country’s gold reserves by purchasing 13,999 troy ounces of gold for about $50 million, marking its first gold acquisition since 1990. This move raises El Salvador’s official gold holdings from 44,106 troy ounces to 58,105 troy ounces, an increase of roughly 32%, with an estimated total value of around $207 million at the time of the transaction. The new gold will form part of the nation’s foreign reserves managed by the BCR. The purchase comes against a backdrop of rising global interest in gold as a safe-haven asset amid geopolitical tensions, inflation concerns, and shifting monetary conditions. For El Salvador specifically, it follows the government’s high-profile Bitcoin strategy, under which the cryptocurrency has legal tender status and has been accumulated as part of reserves, and is framed domestically as a diversification move that complements its digital-asset holdings with a traditional reserve asset. Regional and international coverage has highlighted that the gold purchase was made after El Salvador benefited from a Bitcoin-related windfall, underscoring a dual reserve approach that combines precious metals and crypto assets to manage external vulnerability and signal confidence to markets. The step aligns El Salvador with a broader trend of central banks in emerging and developed economies increasing gold holdings to reduce exposure to major fiat currencies such as the US dollar and to strengthen balance sheets against external shocks. While the scale is modest compared with large economies, the move is notable given El Salvador’s small size, its debt and IMF-related policy debates, and ongoing scrutiny of its Bitcoin policy by international financial institutions. Observers see the transaction as part of a repositioning of the country’s reserve strategy, aimed at improving resilience, bolstering credibility of the central bank’s balance sheet, and potentially leveraging gains from Bitcoin to shore up more conventional reserve assets.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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