The central banks of Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan all boosted their gold purchases in April, according to a report on Monday from the International Monetary Fund.
Together, the three countries bought up some 24,125 pounds of gold in the month. And as a whole, central bank net purchases contributed to more than 11 percent of the demand for gold in the first quarter of 2013, according to the World Gold Council.
So can the central banks save gold?
"I don't think that central bank buying is going to actually stop this decline in gold," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management. That said, central bank purchases "are certainly stemming the slide, and gold would probably be closer to $1,200 if it wasn't for this demand by central banks."
So why doesn't she think those same purchases can save gold?
"You've consistently seen central banks increase their purchases over the last couple months," Lien said on Tuesday's episode of "Futures Now," "and yet you've still seen gold prices fall."
