Valuation of ESCB gold and Top 20 CB & institution holdings, WGC:
(notes, added "....." to somewhat align table below; no per cent holding for IMF and BIS)
Company Press Release
Euroland -- The World's Largest Gold Holder
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 1999--
This statement was issued by Marston Webb International on behalf
of the World Gold Council.
In the light of various speculative press reports concerning gold and this week's publication of the first reserves' statement by the European Central Bank, the Centre for Public Policy Studies of the World Gold Council is issuing this press release to clarify the key issues.
It is important to emphasise that the mere publication of this
reserves' statement carries no implication for future gold sales by either the ECB or the 11 individual EU member states which comprise euroland.
The European System of Central Banks (ESCB or 'Eurosystem') is now -- as a consequence of the changes resulting from the introduction of the euro -- the world's largest single holder of gold, easily exceeding the amount held by the world's previous largest holder, the US.
The ESCB consists of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt and the national central banks of the 11 countries (Note A) that have joined the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), under the terms of the 1992 Maastricht treaty.
On 5 January the ECB published an initial balance sheet for the Eurosystem, which will be updated weekly. It showed the ESCB's total gold holdings to be worth euro99.6bn. The gold valuation used by the ESCB was set at euro246.368 per troy oz, equivalent to the London am fix on the morning of 31 December ($287.45). This valuation will be updated quarterly according to gold's market value on the last day of the preceding quarter. Euro99.6bn of gold was therefore equivalent to 404.3m oz or 12,574 tonnes of gold. This is more than a third of all the gold held by central banks and international monetary institutions
(around 34,000 tonnes).
The same balance sheet showed euroland's other foreign reserves (ie foreign currencies) totalling euros227.4bn. Gold therefore makes up some 30.0 per cent of euroland's total foreign reserves, a much smaller proportion than in the US, which currently holds around 53 per cent of its reserves as gold.
The creation of the euro involved various changes in the gold holdings of EU central banks, as follows:
--Previously all EU central banks deposited 20 per cent of their gold and foreign exchange holdings with the European Monetary Institute (EMI -- the ECB's forerunner) in exchange for ecu. These deposits were returned at the end of 1998.
--The 11 euroland central banks had together to transfer a total of
euro39.47bn of gold and foreign exchange reserves to the ECB. 15 per cent of this - euro5.92bn - was in gold. This is equivalent to 747 tonnes of gold at the price adopted by the ECB.
--The amount each central bank had to transfer to the ECB was
determined according to its ECB shareholding.
While the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the national central banks will remain in their possession, it is important to emphasise that -- under the terms of the Maastricht treaty -- all gold and foreign exchange reserves are at the disposal of the ECB. According to the Maastricht treaty, transactions above a certain limit will be subject to approval by the ECB. Guidelines covering any gold and foreign exchange transactions carried out by the former national
central banks have been adopted but have not, however, been published.
The largest individual gold holders within euroland -- Germany,
France and Italy -- have all confirmed in the recent past that they
will not be looking to sell any of their gold reserves.
Top 20 Central Bank And Financial Institutions Gold Holdings
........................Gold Holdings....% share of gold(Note B
........................Tonnes...........in total reserves
1.Euro'system(Note C)..12,574...........30.5%
of which:
Germany.................3,469.............N/A
France..................3,024.............N/A
Italy...................2,452.............N/A
Netherlands.............1,012.............N/A
ECB.......................747...........15.0%
Others..................1,870.............N/A
2.United States.........8,135...........53.0%
3.IMF...................3,217................
4.Switzerland...........2,590...........38.3%
5.Japan...................754............3.2%
6.United Kingdom..........716...........17.3%
7.Russia..................446...........33.5%
8.Taiwan..................422............4.5%
9.China, Mainland.........395............2.4%
10.India..................357...........10.9%
11.Venezuela..............304...........19.1%
12.Lebanon................287...........28.3%
13.BIS....................199................
14.Sweden.................184............9.5%
15.Algeria................174...........18.1%
16.Philippines............171...........14.9%
17.Brazil.................149............3.3%
18.Saudi Arabia...........143...........14.6%
19.Greece.................141............7.2%
20.South Africa...........132...........21.9%
Others..................1,994
Notes
N/A Data not yet available. Foreign exchange reserves data for euroland countries after the introduction of the euro have not yet been published.
... Not applicable.
Note A: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The four remaining members of the EU 'Denmark, Greece, Sweden and the UK' are not, for the time being, participating.
Note B: With gold valued at $287.45 per troy oz (London am fix on
31.12.98 and the valuation used by the ECB).
Note C: Euro - system includes Austria, Belgium, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Source: Centre for Public Policy Studies, World Gold Council. Based on IMF, International Financial Statistics and other sources. The data are the most recent available.
This statement was issued by Marston Webb International on behalf
of the World Gold Council. If you have difficulty in receiving it,
please call Victor Webb at 212/684-6601.
Contact:
World Gold Council, London
Centre for Public Policy Studies
Robert Pringle, 44-0171/930-5171
Gary Mead, 44-0171/930 5171
or
World Gold Council, New York
Gold Market Analysis
George Milling Stanley, 212/317-3848
or
Marston Webb International, New York
Victor Webb at 212/684-6601
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