Alex, World Council strucked a deal with CB's?
Central Banks not dumping gold- World Gold Council
01:21 p.m Nov 20, 1997 Eastern
By Marius Bosch
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The World Gold Council (WGC) said on
Thursday it was wrong to think that the world's central banks were
dumping their gold holdings.
''It is wrong to think that central banks around the world are dumping
their gold, because we only had three sellers over the past two years,
which means that 177 central banks around the world still think it is a
damn good idea to hold it,'' WGC gold market analysis manager George
Milling-Stanley said.
The WGC, backed by a number of producers, monitors gold demand in
countries accounting for about 75 percent of global gold consumption.
Gold's plunge began in July after the Australian Reserve Bank said it
sold 167 tonnes of its holdings. It fell to a fresh 12-year low of $299
per ounce this month after a study recommended that the Swiss Central
Bank should sell 1,400 of its 2,590 tonnes stockpile.
Only three Central Banks, those of Australia, Belgium and the
Netherlands, had made substantial sales from their holdings in the past
two years, Milling-Stanley said.
He told analysts at a Johannesburg briefing that the decision by the
Australians to sell should not be seen as a indictment of gold because
they had reduced their holdings and said they would still retain 80
tonnes of gold holdings.
The WGC's latest Gold Demand Trends publication said holdings of ''All
Countries'' published by the IMF showed a net decline of 217.7 tonnes of
gold between May and August -- most of this deliveries from the
Australian Reserve Bank against the forward sale of 167 tonnes of gold.
Milling-Stanley said misunderstandings about recent gold developments --
including the Swiss study and German comments that the country's gold
holdings should be revalued -- needed to be cleared up.
He added that the WGC was in close contact with central banks and found
central banks ''very useful allies.''
''Central banks are a factor in the gold market and are more a factor
because of what they are lending rather than what they are selling.''
Milling-Stanley said lending of gold by central banks now formed an
increasing part of gold supply.
''I believe that that in total, not on an annual basis...is probably the
biggest single component of supply.
''And it is a new one and it is one that a lot of people still do not
include in their analysis of the market and that is why the price is
where it is,'' Milling-Stanley said.
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any
errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon. |
