A surge in central bank gold buying - triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict - is driving the current rally in precious metals, according to Nilesh Shah, Managing Director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management. "So there's only one thing which is happening in the gold market apart from what was happening before - the central bank buying," Shah told CNBC-TV18. Advertisement

"Global central banks post their experience of the Russia-Ukraine war, where Russia's $500 billion forex reserves were seized by the Western world, and that prompted every central bank to look for safekeeping of their reserves. The gold with Russia's central bank remained in their custody. This prompted everyone to shift part of their allocation from securities into gold," he said.

"Western world central banks' 60 to 7

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