| Topic: | Britain is no longer in World Gold Top Ten | |
| Posted by: | David Giles | |
| Date/Time: | 11/11/09 12:15:00 |
| The top ten gold holdings in September 2009 according to World Gold Council,as quoted in "The Economist " are: USA 8,100 tonnes Germany 3,400 tonnes IMF 3,200 tonnes Italy 2,500 tonnes France 2,400 tonnes China 1,1000 tonnes Switzerland 1,000 tonnes Japan 800 tonnes Netherlands 600 tonnes Russia 600 tonnes India bought 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF in October 2009 at a cost of $6.7 billion. The IMF plans to sell 403.3 tonnes of its gold holding in order to cover its operating expenses and help expand lending- possibly to countries with severe economic problems such as the UK. It is noteworthy that the UK is not included- possibly because Gordon Brown sold 359 tonnes of the UK’s gold reserves when the price was $257 per troy ounce. I suspect more has been sold since. The price is now about $1,100 per ounce for the first time. The central banks of China, Mexico, the Philippines and Russia have all added to their gold reserves in the past year. The Economist says ”Every central bank with a large holding of American debts is worried about capital losses if the dollar continues to weaken. Gold offers reassurance. Anyone who wants “quantitative easing “ in the gold market has to dig a mine “. Maybe Gordon Brown should start digging ! |