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

To: PaulM who wrote (60866)	11/12/2000 5:41:49 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116756

Central Banks play pivotal role in management of gold reserves by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE Central Banks play a pivotal role in the management of gold reserves of their countries and we have a clear dialogue with most Central Banks in the world said, World Gold Council's Consultant, Ralston C. Thiedeman addressing a press conference in Colombo in connection with the gold reserve management seminar held in Sri Lanka. His visit to Sri Lanka was also to study how the gold reserves were managed by the Central Bank and to work in close co-operation with them. "This was the first time the World Gold Council has worked in Sri Lanka and we find there are opportunities for bullion banking in Sri Lanka. Our focus is on the gold the Central Bank holds. Ours is a non profit organisation, " he said. The World Gold Council was founded in 1987 and operates in 23 countries which account for three quarters of the gold demand. The council is funded by mining companies, big and small from South Africa, Australia, Canada, USA, Japan and Saudi Arabia. The World Gold Council's mission is to influence the attitude of potential gold holders viz. the official sector positively. It also induces structural change in gold markets through de-regulation and through reduction or removal of taxes. World Gold Council's India's Regional Director, Derrick Machado said that he was amazed to learn about the de-regulation of gold industry in Sri Lanka. He said the World Gold Council was anxious to learn about the jewellery market in Sri Lanka but cautioned that 2 percent tax and 12.5 percent GST on gold products would hinder the growth of the export market as manufacturers were not willing to expand their businesses. Asked whether the World Gold Council would consider setting up an office in Sri Lanka he replied that there wasn't much potential to justify setting up an office in Sri Lanka. He said India imports gold in excess of 800 tonnes worth US $ 7 billion but was not sure about the quantity that Sri Lanka imports. But it should be around 3 tonnes every four months. Sri Lanka Jewellery Manufacturing Exports Association's President Chanaka Ellawala said that around 40-50 percent of their jewellery products were exported to the USA. The association was concerned with the value addition to jewellery products. "We pay a higher price buying gold from banks with 2.5 percent stamp duty," he said. World Gold Councils, Manager International Technology, Dr. Christoper Corti said quality and the design were important issue selling gold jewellery to foreign markets. He said it was important to upgrade technology to be competitive in the world market when tariff barriers will be removed in the near future. Markets will be flooded with new innovative products for lesser price than obsolete traditional products. Products that are not upgraded technologically will not survive for long, he said. According to World Gold Council figures, by 1920, 70 percent of all official gold stocks were held in the hands of Britain, France and the USA. But by 1930 the French government held over 3,000 metric tonnes of gold and the US held about 60 percent of all official gold. European central banks continued to be the significant buyers of gold after the war and this reflected the prosperity of European nations. In 1967 Western Europe held over 18, 640 metric tonnes whereas the US had fallen to 10,722 metic tonnes of gold. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- lanka.net