Gold reserve

Gold reserve

A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g., paper money), or trading peers, or to secure a currency.

Today, gold reserves are almost exclusively, albeit rarely, used in the settlement of international transactions.[citation needed]

At the end of 2004, central banks and investment funds held 19% of all above-ground gold as bank reserve assets.[1]

It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totaled 165,000 tonnes.[2] At a price of US$1900/oz., reached in September 2011, one ton of gold has a value of approximately US$60.8 million. The total value of all gold ever mined would exceed US$9.2 trillion at that valuation.[note 1]

Contents

IMF gold holdings

As of June 2009, the International Monetary Fund held 3,217 tons (103.4 million oz.) of gold,[3][4] which had been constant for several years. In Fall 2009, the IMF announced that it will sell one eighth of its holdings, a maximum of 12,965,649 fine troy ounces (403.3 t) based on a new income model agreed upon in April 2008, and subsequently announced the sale of 200 tonnes to India,[5] 10 tonnes to Sri Lanka,[6] a further 10 Metric tonnes of Gold was also sold to Bangladesh Bank in September 2010 and 2 tonnes to the Bank of Mauritius.[7] These gold sales were conducted in stages at prevailing market prices.

The IMF maintains an internal book value of its gold that is far below market value. In 2000, this book value was XDR 35, or about US$47 per troy ounce.[8] An attempt to revalue the gold reserve to today's value has met resistance for different reasons. For example, Canada is against the idea of revaluing the reserve, as it may be a prelude to selling the gold on the open market and therefore depressing gold prices.[9]

Officially reported gold holdings

Foreign currency reserves and gold minus external debt based on 2010 data from CIA Factbook
Gold reserves per capita

The International Monetary Fund regularly maintains statistics of national assets as reported by various countries. These data are used by the World Gold Council to periodically rank and report the gold holding of countries and official organizations.[10]

The gold listed for each of the countries in the table may not be physically stored in the country listed, as central banks generally have not allowed independent audits of their reserves.

World official gold holding (December 2010)[10]
Rank Country/Organization Gold
(tonnes)
Gold's share
of national
forex reserves (%)[10]
1 United States USA 8,133.5 74.7%
2 Germany Germany 3,401.0 71.7%
3 Italy Italy 2,451.8 71.4%
4 France France 2,435.4 66.1%
5 China China 1,054.1 01.7%
6 Switzerland Switzerland 1,040.1 16.4%
7 Qatar Qatar 950.3 07.1%
8 Russia Russia 775.2 06.7%
9 Japan Japan 765.2 03.0%
10 Netherlands Netherlands 615.5 59.4%
11 India India 614.8 08.1%
12 Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan) 466.9 04.6%
13 Portugal Portugal 421.6 81.1%
14 Venezuela Venezuela 401.1 52.4%
15 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 322.9 03.0%
16 Iran Islamic Republic of Iran 320[11] 00.0%
17 United Kingdom United Kingdom 310.3 16.8%
18 Lebanon Lebanon 300 27.6%
19 Spain Spain 281.6 38.6%
20 Austria Austria 280.0 56.2%
21 Belgium Belgium 227.5 36.8%
22 Pakistan Pakistan 184.4 19.2%
23 Philippines Philippines 175.9 14.0%
24 Algeria Algeria 173.6 04.5%
25 Libya Libya 143.8 05.6%
26 Singapore Singapore 127.4 02.5%
27 Sweden Sweden 125.7 11.1%
28 South Africa South Africa 124.9 12.2%
29 Turkey Turkey 116.1 06.0%
30 Greece Greece 111.7 78.7%
31 Romania Romania 103.7 09.1%
32 Poland Poland 102.9 04.5%
33 Mexico Mexico 100.1[12] 03.8%
34 Thailand Thailand 99.5 02.5%
35 Australia Australia 79.9 08.1%
36 Kuwait Kuwait 79.0 13.5%
37 Egypt Egypt 75.6 08.7%
38 Indonesia Indonesia 73.1 03.6%
39 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 67.3 10.0%
40 Denmark Denmark 66.5 03.3%
41 Argentina Argentina 54.7 4.5%
42 Finland Finland 49.1 20.6%
43 Bulgaria Bulgaria 39.9 09.9%
44 Malaysia Malaysia 36.4 01.5%
45 Peru Peru 34.7 03.6%
46 Belarus Belarus 32 24.5%
47 Brazil Brazil 33.6 00.5%
48 Slovakia Slovakia 31.8 65.4%
49 Bolivia Bolivia 28.3 13.4%
50 Ukraine Ukraine 27.2 03.5%
51 Ecuador Ecuador 26.3 31.0%
52 Syria Syria 25.8 00.0%
53 Morocco Morocco 22.0 04.2%
54 Nigeria Nigeria 21.4 00.0%
55 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 17.5 11.9%
56 South Korea South Korea 14.4 00.2%
57 Cyprus Cyprus 13.9 50.8%
58 Bangladesh Bangladesh 13.5 05.2%
59 Serbia Serbia 13.1 4.2%
60 Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles 13.1 36.3%
61 Jordan Jordan 12.8 04.3%
62 Czech Republic Czech Republic 12.7 01.2%
63 Cambodia Cambodia 12.4 14.4%
64 Laos Laos 8.8 36.5%
65 Latvia Latvia 7.7 04.0%
66 El Salvador El Salvador 7.3 10.6%
67 Guatemala Guatemala 6.9 05.3%
68 Colombia Colombia 6.9 01.1%
69 Republic of Macedonia Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 6.8 12.7%
70 Tunisia Tunisia 6.8 00.0%
71 Republic of Ireland Ireland 6.0 11.8%
72 Lithuania Lithuania 5.8 03.8%
73 Bahrain Bahrain 4.7 00.0%
74 Mauritius Mauritius 3.9 06.8%
75 Canada Canada 3.4 00.2%
76 Tajikistan Tajikistan 3.3 00.0%
77 Slovenia Slovenia 3.2 13.4%
78 Aruba Aruba 3.1 17.7%
79 Hungary Hungary 3.1 00.3%
80 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 2.6 06.5%
81 Luxembourg Luxembourg 2.2 11.7%
82 Hong Kong Hong Kong 2.1 00.0%
83 Suriname Suriname 2.0 11.4%
84 Iceland Iceland 2.0 01.6%
85 Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 2.0 02.9%
86 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 1.9 00.8%
87 Albania Albania 1.6 02.8%
88 Yemen Yemen 1.6 01.1%
89 Cameroon Cameroon 0.9 01.2%
90 Mongolia Mongolia 0.9 02.4%
91 Honduras Honduras 0.7 00.0%
92 Paraguay Paraguay 0.7 00.7%
93 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 0.6 01.0%
94 Gabon Gabon 0.4 00.8%
95 Malawi Malawi 0.4 06.2%
96 Central African Republic Central African Republic 0.3 08.4%
97 Chad Chad 0.3 02.4%
98 Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo 0.3 00.4%
99 Uruguay Uruguay 0.3 00.1%
100 Fiji Fiji 0.2 00.0%
101 Estonia Estonia 0.2 00.3%
102 Chile Chile 0.2 00.0%
103 Malta Malta 0.2 01.6%
104 Costa Rica Costa Rica 0.1 00.1%
105 Haiti Haiti 0.0 00.1%
106 Burundi Burundi 0.0 00.5%
107 Oman Oman 0.0 00.0%
108 Comoros Comoros 0.0 00.0%
109 Kenya Kenya 0.0 00.0%

Privately held gold

As of October 2009, gold exchange-traded funds held 1,750 tonnes of gold for private and institutional investors.[13]

Gold Holdings Corp. a publicly listed gold company estimates that the amount of in-ground verified gold resources currently controlled by publicly traded gold mining companies is roughly 50,000 tonnes.[14]

Privately held gold (May 2011)[15]
Rank Name Type Gold (Tonnes)
1 SPDR Gold Shares ETF 1,239
2 ETF Securities Gold Funds ETF 259.79
3 ZKB Physical Gold ETF 195.53
4 COMEX Gold Trust ETF 137.61
5 Julius Baer Physical Gold Fund ETF 93.50
6 Central Fund of Canada CEF 52.71[16]
7 NewGold ETF ETF 47.75
8 Sprott Physical Gold Trust CEF 32.27
9 ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF 27.97
10 Bullionvault Bailment 37.1[17]
11 Central Gold Trust CEF 18.81[18]
12 GoldMoney Bailment 19.01[19]

World gold holdings

World gold holdings (2008) (Source: World Gold Council[20])
Holding Percentage
Jewelry 52%
Central banks 18%
Investment (bars, coins) 16%
Industrial 12%
Unaccounted 2%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ One tonne is 32,150.722 Troy Ounces.

References

  1. ^ Central Banks and Official Institutions World Gold Council
  2. ^ gold knowledge/frequently asked questions World Gold Council
  3. ^ "Gold in the IMF". International Monetary Fund. 2009-09-18. http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/gold.htm. 
  4. ^ "Quarterly Gold and FX Reserves". World Gold Council. June 2009. http://www.gold.org/deliver.php?force=true&download=/value/stats/statistics/xls/Quarterly_Gold_and_FX_Reserves_June_2009.xls. 
  5. ^ IMF Announces Sale of 200 metric tons of Gold to the Reserve Bank of India
  6. ^ IMF Announces Sale of 10 Metric Tons of Gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
  7. ^ IMF Announces Sale of 2 Metric Tons of Gold to the Bank of Mauritius
  8. ^ "IMF completes off-market gold sales". 2000-04-07. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/nb/2000/nb0021.htm. 
  9. ^ Gold falls on IMF sale concerns
  10. ^ a b c Reserve asset statistics
  11. ^ http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/191248/%D8%B0%D8%AE%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B4%D8%AF
  12. ^ "UPDATE 2-Mexico ramps up gold reserves at dollar's expense". Reuters. May 4, 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/mexico-gold-idUSLDE7431OZ20110504. Retrieved May 21, 2011. 
  13. ^ Daily Gold ETF Monitor
  14. ^ Gold Holdings by Company
  15. ^ Reuters: FACTBOX-Precious metals holdings of exchange-traded products, 6 Jun 2011
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ Daily Audit - Allocated Gold Bar Lists And Bank Statements - BullionVault.com
  18. ^ [2]
  19. ^ Monthly Audit - Allocated Gold - GoldMoney.com
  20. ^ DollarDaze Economic Commentary Blog

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