Gold reserves by the Republic of Belarus in the last month of 2011 have grown to 1.21 million ounces from 1.028 million ounces in November 2011, data from the Web site of the International Monetary Fund said.

This, as the World Gold Council (WGC) expects gold buying of central banks could have breached another record in 2011.

The Natsionalny Bank Respubliki Belarus bank on its Webs ite reported it holds 1.2 million ounces of gold for December.

"Gold reserves are replenished as a result of the central bank purchasing gold," Mikhail Zhuravovich, a spokesman for the Natsionalny Bank Respubliki Belarus, said in Bloomberg News. The conversion into gold of interest payments received also supplemented to the increased numbers, Mr Zhuravovich added.

When asked if the country plans to buy more gold purchases in the immediate future, Mr Zhuravovich declined to comment.

Earlier, Belarus' central bank said its gold and foreign exchange reserves jumped to $7.9 billion over the New Year, mainly due to the $2.5 billion paid by Russia's Gazprom to control pipeline operator Beltransgaz.

Meanwhile, central bank gold purchases by emerging economies could have added a total of 450 tonnes of gold to their existing reserves in 2011, the WGC said.

"Central bank net-buying is poised to have a record year, and many of these purchases happened during Q3 and Q4. Additionally, investment activity remained healthy as market participants continued to access the market whether through bars and coins or other vehicles," the WGC said in a report.

Central banks around the world have been aggressively buying the yellow metal to increase their total reserve allocation, a move meant to diversify investments away from U.S. dollars.

The increasing levels of inflation, a worsening eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the lacklustre performance of many assets have driven global investors to increase their holdings in gold in order to secure their wealth as well as seek protection from economic uncertainty.

Gold prices hit a record $1,920.30 an ounce in September. It ended 2011 with a 10 per cent gain in U.S. dollar terms, a 34 per cent gain in Turkish lira as well as a 33.8 per cent increase in South African rand, the WGC said.