Gold reserve
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Reform
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A 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.
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]
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[edit] 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]
[edit] Officially reported gold holdings
The 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.
[edit] 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]
| 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 | 19.55[19] |
[edit] World gold holdings
| Holding | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Jewelry | 52% |
| Central banks | 18% |
| Investment (bars, coins) | 16% |
| Industrial | 12% |
| Unaccounted | 2% |
[edit] See also
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York
- Foreign exchange reserves
- Gold as an investment
- Moscow gold, the reserves of the Bank of Spain sent to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War.
- Peak Gold
- Silver reserve
- Sovereign wealth fund
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- United States Bullion Depository
[edit] Notes
- ^ One tonne is 32,150.722 Troy Ounces.
- ^ Only 5%, or 170 tons, are physically kept in Germany. And a whopping 66% of all of Germany’s gold is at the NY Federal reserve.
[edit] References
- ^ "Investment > World Gold Council". Gold.org. 2011-07-26. http://www.gold.org/value/markets/supply_demand/central_banks.html. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "About gold > World Gold Council". Gold.org. 2011-07-26. http://www.gold.org/discover/knowledge/faqs/. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "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.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Press Release: IMF Announces Sale of 10 Metric Tons of Gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka". Imf.org. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09431.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "Press Release: IMF Announces Sale of 2 Metric Tons of Gold to the Bank of Mauritius". Imf.org. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09413.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "IMF completes off-market gold sales". 2000-04-07. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/nb/2000/nb0021.htm.
- ^ 'http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4242565.stm
- ^ a b c "Statistics > Investment > World Gold Council". Research.gold.org. 2011-07-26. http://www.research.gold.org/reserve_asset/. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ Iran reserves: $120b in foreign notes, 907 tons of gold, Tehran Times, 2012-02-01
- ^ Nepali gov't adopts new gold policy, Xinhua, 2010-09-25
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ http://www.goldholdings.com/gold/holdings-by-company
- ^ "FACTBOX-Precious metals holdings of exchange-traded products | News by Country | Reuters". Af.reuters.com. 2011-06-06. http://af.reuters.com/article/southAfricaNews/idAFLDE7551YW20110606. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "Central Fund's Net Asset Value". Centralfund.com. 2000-03-16. http://www.centralfund.com/Nav%20Form.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "Daily Audit - Allocated Gold Bar Lists and Bank Statements". BullionVault.com. 2011-12-21. http://www.bullionvault.com/audit.do. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "GoldTrust's Net Asset Value". Gold-trust.com. 2000-03-16. http://www.gold-trust.com/asset_value.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "Total Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium and Currencies in GoldMoney". Goldmoney.com. 2011-12-30. http://www.goldmoney.com/report-monthly.html. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ "DollarDaze Economic Commentary Blog - Gold, Oil, Stocks, Investments, Currencies, and the Federal Reserve: Two Methods for Estimating the Price of Gold by Mike Hewitt". Dollardaze.org. http://dollardaze.org/blog/?post_id=00479&cat_id=20. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
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