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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (41120)	9/27/1999 2:42:00 PM
From: P P Bravo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116786

World Gold Council Welcomes Central Bank Initiative On Gold Sales;Five Year Limit Imposed On New Sales Source: BUSINESS WIRE NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 27, 1999--The World Gold Council said today that it welcomed the initiative of the European central banks to introduce a five-year moratorium on new sales of gold from official reserves. Mr Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, said in Washington yesterday following a meeting of the Group of 10 leading industrial countries, that the central banks of the Euro-system, plus the Bank of England, Switzerland and Sweden, had agreed to limit sales of gold from official reserves to a maximum of 2,000 tonnes over the next five years. This figure includes the potential sale of 1,300 tonnes by the Bank of Switzerland and the current sales by the Bank of England. The sales would be limited to a maximum of approximately 400 tonnes a year. The central banks have also agreed not to increase their gold lending arrangements and derivative operations above current levels for the next five years. "The World Gold Council welcomes this move," said Robert Pringle, head of the WGC's Centre for Public Policy Studies. "These decisive measures by a group which accounts for some 50% of all official gold holdings, will reduce dramatically the scope for rumour and speculation which has been such a damaging feature of the gold market in recent years." The other major holders of gold - the United States, the IMF, the Bank of Japan and the Bank for International Settlements - while not part of this agreement are associated with it. The [Reserve Bank of Australi]a several weeks ago also stated that it had no intention of selling more gold in the foreseeable future. This brings almost 90 percent of official gold holdings worldwide within the scope of a general restriction on gold sales and lending. "The WGC has been drawing attention to the dangers of instability in the gold market fuelled by speculation and we are pleased to see that central bankers share our concern and have taken steps to limit the opportunities for unfounded rumour. We are also pleased to note that the world's major central banks have also re-affirmed their commitment to gold as an important reserve asset for the forseeable future," said Mr Pringle.