Gold prices have pushed to a fresh record amid forecasts that central banks will be net buyers of bullion this year for the first time in two decades, the clearest sign of the rehabilitation of bullion after the financial crisis.

The shift marks a turnround after heavy disposals by European central banks over the past 10 years, when gold was seen as a non-yielding unattractive asset. Monetary institutions then swapped their bullion for yielding sovereign debt.

GFMS, the consultancy that compiles benchmark statistics for gold, said that central banks would buy about 15 tonnes of bullion on a net basis this year, a situation last seen in 1988. The swing comes on the back of buying by Russia and several Asia-based central banks and the collapse of sales in Europe.