- Gold reserve
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Commerce ministry · Trade blocReformA gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g., paper money), or trading peers, or to secure a currency.
Today, gold reserves are almost exclusively, albeit rarely, used in the settlement of international transactions.[citation needed]
At the end of 2004, central banks and investment funds held 19% of all above-ground gold as bank reserve assets.[1]
It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totaled 165,000 tonnes.[2] At a price of US$1900/oz., reached in September 2011, one ton of gold has a value of approximately US$60.8 million. The total value of all gold ever mined would exceed US$9.2 trillion at that valuation.[note 1]
Contents
IMF gold holdings
As of June 2009, the International Monetary Fund held 3,217 tons (103.4 million oz.) of gold,[3][4] which had been constant for several years. In Fall 2009, the IMF announced that it will sell one eighth of its holdings, a maximum of 12,965,649 fine troy ounces (403.3 t) based on a new income model agreed upon in April 2008, and subsequently announced the sale of 200 tonnes to India,[5] 10 tonnes to Sri Lanka,[6] a further 10 Metric tonnes of Gold was also sold to Bangladesh Bank in September 2010 and 2 tonnes to the Bank of Mauritius.[7] These gold sales were conducted in stages at prevailing market prices.
The IMF maintains an internal book value of its gold that is far below market value. In 2000, this book value was XDR 35, or about US$47 per troy ounce.[8] An attempt to revalue the gold reserve to today's value has met resistance for different reasons. For example, Canada is against the idea of revaluing the reserve, as it may be a prelude to selling the gold on the open market and therefore depressing gold prices.[9]
Officially reported gold holdings
Foreign currency reserves and gold minus external debt based on 2010 data from CIA Factbook
Gold reserves per capitaThe International Monetary Fund regularly maintains statistics of national assets as reported by various countries. These data are used by the World Gold Council to periodically rank and report the gold holding of countries and official organizations.[10]
The gold listed for each of the countries in the table may not be physically stored in the country listed, as central banks generally have not allowed independent audits of their reserves.
World official gold holding (December 2010)[10] Rank Country/Organization Gold
(tonnes)Gold's share
of national
forex reserves (%)[10]1 
USA8,133.5 74.7% 2 
Germany3,401.0 71.7% 3 
Italy2,451.8 71.4% 4 
France2,435.4 66.1% 5 
China1,054.1 01.7% 6 
Switzerland1,040.1 16.4% 7 
Qatar950.3 07.1% 8 
Russia775.2 06.7% 9 
Japan765.2 03.0% 10 
Netherlands615.5 59.4% 11 
India614.8 08.1% 12 
Republic of China (Taiwan)466.9 04.6% 13 
Portugal421.6 81.1% 14 
Venezuela401.1 52.4% 15 
Saudi Arabia322.9 03.0% 16 
Islamic Republic of Iran320[11] 00.0% 17 
United Kingdom310.3 16.8% 18 
Lebanon300 27.6% 19 
Spain281.6 38.6% 20 
Austria280.0 56.2% 21 
Belgium227.5 36.8% 22 
Pakistan184.4 19.2% 23 
Philippines175.9 14.0% 24 
Algeria173.6 04.5% 25 
Libya143.8 05.6% 26 
Singapore127.4 02.5% 27 
Sweden125.7 11.1% 28 
South Africa124.9 12.2% 29 
Turkey116.1 06.0% 30 
Greece111.7 78.7% 31 
Romania103.7 09.1% 32 
Poland102.9 04.5% 33 
Mexico100.1[12] 03.8% 34 
Thailand99.5 02.5% 35 
Australia79.9 08.1% 36 
Kuwait79.0 13.5% 37 
Egypt75.6 08.7% 38 
Indonesia73.1 03.6% 39 
Kazakhstan67.3 10.0% 40 
Denmark66.5 03.3% 41 
Argentina54.7 4.5% 42 
Finland49.1 20.6% 43 
Bulgaria39.9 09.9% 44 
Malaysia36.4 01.5% 45 
Peru34.7 03.6% 46 
Belarus32 24.5% 47 
Brazil33.6 00.5% 48 
Slovakia31.8 65.4% 49 
Bolivia28.3 13.4% 50 
Ukraine27.2 03.5% 51 
Ecuador26.3 31.0% 52 
Syria25.8 00.0% 53 
Morocco22.0 04.2% 54 
Nigeria21.4 00.0% 55 
Sri Lanka17.5 11.9% 56 
South Korea14.4 00.2% 57 
Cyprus13.9 50.8% 58 
Bangladesh13.5 05.2% 59 
Serbia13.1 4.2% 60 
Netherlands Antilles13.1 36.3% 61 
Jordan12.8 04.3% 62 
Czech Republic12.7 01.2% 63 
Cambodia12.4 14.4% 64 
Laos8.8 36.5% 65 
Latvia7.7 04.0% 66 
El Salvador7.3 10.6% 67 
Guatemala6.9 05.3% 68 
Colombia6.9 01.1% 69 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia6.8 12.7% 70 
Tunisia6.8 00.0% 71 
Ireland6.0 11.8% 72 
Lithuania5.8 03.8% 73 
Bahrain4.7 00.0% 74 
Mauritius3.9 06.8% 75 
Canada3.4 00.2% 76 
Tajikistan3.3 00.0% 77 
Slovenia3.2 13.4% 78 
Aruba3.1 17.7% 79 
Hungary3.1 00.3% 80 
Kyrgyzstan2.6 06.5% 81 
Luxembourg2.2 11.7% 82 
Hong Kong2.1 00.0% 83 
Suriname2.0 11.4% 84 
Iceland2.0 01.6% 85 
Papua New Guinea2.0 02.9% 86 
Trinidad and Tobago1.9 00.8% 87 
Albania1.6 02.8% 88 
Yemen1.6 01.1% 89 
Cameroon0.9 01.2% 90 
Mongolia0.9 02.4% 91 
Honduras0.7 00.0% 92 
Paraguay0.7 00.7% 93 
Dominican Republic0.6 01.0% 94 
Gabon0.4 00.8% 95 
Malawi0.4 06.2% 96 
Central African Republic0.3 08.4% 97 
Chad0.3 02.4% 98 
Republic of the Congo0.3 00.4% 99 
Uruguay0.3 00.1% 100 
Fiji0.2 00.0% 101 
Estonia0.2 00.3% 102 
Chile0.2 00.0% 103 
Malta0.2 01.6% 104 
Costa Rica0.1 00.1% 105 
Haiti0.0 00.1% 106 
Burundi0.0 00.5% 107 
Oman0.0 00.0% 108 
Comoros0.0 00.0% 109 
Kenya0.0 00.0% Privately held gold
As of October 2009, gold exchange-traded funds held 1,750 tonnes of gold for private and institutional investors.[13]
Gold Holdings Corp. a publicly listed gold company estimates that the amount of in-ground verified gold resources currently controlled by publicly traded gold mining companies is roughly 50,000 tonnes.[14]
Privately held gold (May 2011)[15] Rank Name Type Gold (Tonnes) 1 SPDR Gold Shares ETF 1,239 2 ETF Securities Gold Funds ETF 259.79 3 ZKB Physical Gold ETF 195.53 4 COMEX Gold Trust ETF 137.61 5 Julius Baer Physical Gold Fund ETF 93.50 6 Central Fund of Canada CEF 52.71[16] 7 NewGold ETF ETF 47.75 8 Sprott Physical Gold Trust CEF 32.27 9 ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF 27.97 10 Bullionvault Bailment 37.1[17] 11 Central Gold Trust CEF 18.81[18] 12 GoldMoney Bailment 19.01[19] World gold holdings
World gold holdings (2008) (Source: World Gold Council[20]) Holding Percentage Jewelry 52% Central banks 18% Investment (bars, coins) 16% Industrial 12% Unaccounted 2% See also
- Foreign exchange reserves
- Sovereign wealth fund
- United States Bullion Depository
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York
- Gold as an investment
- Peak Gold
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Silver reserve
- Moscow gold, the reserves of the Bank of Spain sent to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War.
Notes
- ^ One tonne is 32,150.722 Troy Ounces.
References
- ^ Central Banks and Official Institutions World Gold Council
- ^ gold knowledge/frequently asked questions World Gold Council
- ^ "Gold in the IMF". International Monetary Fund. 2009-09-18. http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/gold.htm.
- ^ "Quarterly Gold and FX Reserves". World Gold Council. June 2009. http://www.gold.org/deliver.php?force=true&download=/value/stats/statistics/xls/Quarterly_Gold_and_FX_Reserves_June_2009.xls.
- ^ IMF Announces Sale of 200 metric tons of Gold to the Reserve Bank of India
- ^ IMF Announces Sale of 10 Metric Tons of Gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
- ^ IMF Announces Sale of 2 Metric Tons of Gold to the Bank of Mauritius
- ^ "IMF completes off-market gold sales". 2000-04-07. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/nb/2000/nb0021.htm.
- ^ Gold falls on IMF sale concerns
- ^ a b c Reserve asset statistics
- ^ http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/191248/%D8%B0%D8%AE%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B4%D8%AF
- ^ "UPDATE 2-Mexico ramps up gold reserves at dollar's expense". Reuters. May 4, 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/mexico-gold-idUSLDE7431OZ20110504. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ^ Daily Gold ETF Monitor
- ^ Gold Holdings by Company
- ^ Reuters: FACTBOX-Precious metals holdings of exchange-traded products, 6 Jun 2011
- ^ [1]
- ^ Daily Audit - Allocated Gold Bar Lists And Bank Statements - BullionVault.com
- ^ [2]
- ^ Monthly Audit - Allocated Gold - GoldMoney.com
- ^ DollarDaze Economic Commentary Blog
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