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T O K Y O -- Japan"s gold reserves stood at 223.064 billion dollars as of the end of April, having grown by 541 million dollars during the last month, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Japan with its gold, foreign exchange and so-called special IMF borrowing rights, led the world for five years and now ranks second, since 11 European countries, Austria, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the European Central Bank - now boast joint reserves of 288.4 billion dollars. Beijing and Hong Kong could have risen higher than Tokyo, if they had agreed to combine their reserves. If Taiwan"s reserves were added, the Chinese could claim that they practically own one-third of one trillion dollars. The United States with its 82.4 billion dollars in gold reserves ranks sixth. |
