Iraq bought 24.1 tons of gold last year, Int. Gold Council

Iraq bought 24.1 tons of gold last year, Int. Gold Council

2/15/2013 12:52 PM

BAGHDAD/ Aswat al-Iraq: International Gold Council disclosed in its yesterday's report that Iraq bought 24.1 tons of gold during 2012, according to news published by Saudi al-Sharq al-Awsat daily today.

The report pointed out that international central banks increased their purchase of gold during the last year to the highest level in 48 years.

It added that Iraq benefited from the increase in oil prices to buy this quantity of gold.

The overall purchase of gold reached to $236.5 billion with a quantity of 4405.5 tons.

Analysts said that the main reason for the increasing purchase is the fluctuations in currency prices, amid fears of "currencies' war".

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Pretty impressive to me as that is half the #1 USA holding and 4 times China's and ahead of Germany to make Iraq the #2 Gold Holding Country in the World..... ;)

10 Countries Sitting On Enormous Piles Of Gold
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Dec. 16, 2012, 6:33 AM


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
In an uncertain global economic environment, central banks have been purchasing gold.
Some have argued that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for sovereign debt issuance to keep bond yields low.

The World Gold Council estimates that central banks will have purchased [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] up from 465 tons last year. And gold prices have also been supported by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Global gold reserves total 31,491 tons as of December 2012. We
highlighted the ten countries with the biggest official gold holdings as
reported by the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] We also included the percent of foreign reserves they possess in gold.

Note: CBGA refers to the Central Bank Gold Agreements. The first
Agreement (CBGA 1) ran from September 27, 1999 to September 26, 2004.
The second Agreement (CBGA 2) ran from September 27, 2004 to September
26, 2009. The third Agreement (CBGA 3) will run for five years from
September 2009.







#10 India







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
557.7 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
10.3 percent

The Reserve Bank of India is known to buy IMF gold and considers [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], but rarely comments on its plans to buy gold.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#9 Netherlands







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
612.5 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
60.3 percent

Back in 1999, the Netherlands announced under the Central Bank Gold
Agreement (CBGA1) that it would sell 300 tonnes of gold during the five
years, but only managed to sell 235 tonnes.

Under CBGA2
(2004/2005 –'08/'09) it said it would sell a total of 165 tones (which
included the 65 tonnes left over from CBGA1), and it announced no sales
under CBGA3 (from 2008/2009 – '13/'14).

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#8 Japan







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
765.2 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
3.3 percent

Japan's gold reserves were at just 6 tonnes in 1950, and its central
bank registered its first serious jump in gold holdings in 1959, with
purchases increasing by 169 tonnes from the previous year.

In 2011, the Bank of Japan sold gold to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] into the economy to calm investors after the tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#7 Russia







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
934.9 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
9.8 percent

Russia has been [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] since 2006 to diversify its Forex reserves, and to help build the ruble as an international reserve currency.

The central bank typically buys gold from the domestic market and sold some of its gold in October.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#6 Switzerland







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
1,040.1 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
11.0 percent

In 1997 proposals were announced to sell a portion of the country's
gold reserves because they were no longer considered to be "necessary
for monetary policy purposes", according to the World Gold Council.

1,300
tonnes were considered to be surplus gold and the country began selling
this in May 2000. 1,170 tonnes were sold under CBGA1, and 130 tones
were sold under CBGA2. Switzerland has announced no plans to sell gold
under CBGA 3.


Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#5 China






[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Official gold holdings:
1,054.1 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
1.7 percent

Gold still accounts for a very small percent of China's $3.2 trillion
in foreign exchange reserves, compared with the international average
of 10 percent.

Building up gold reserves will be crucial to China as it moves to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] its currency, and hopes to make it a reserve currency, according to the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#4 France







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
2,435.4 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
72.0 percent

France sold 572 tonnes of gold under CBGA 2. And outside of the
agreement France transferred about 17 tonnes to the Bank for
International Settlements in late 2004 as part purchase of BIS shares.
France announced no plans for sales of gold reserves under CBGA 3.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#3 Italy







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
2,451.8 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
72.5 percent

Italy sold no gold under CBGA 1 or 2 and has announced no sales under
CBGA3. But in 2011, Italian banks were looking to the Bank of Italy to
buy gold and Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ahead of stress tests.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#2 Germany







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
3,391.3 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
73.2 percent

Germany sold gold under CBGA 1 and 2 for the purposes of minting
commemorative gold coins. In the first year of CBGA3 (2008 - 2009), the
Bundesbank sold approximately 6 tonnes, and it has sold [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] since September 7, 2011.

Germany has refused to have its gold holdings [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




#1 United States







[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Official gold holdings:
8,133.5 tonnes


Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
76.1 percent

The U.S. had its largest gold reserves in volume terms in 1952, when
reserves totaled 20,663 tonnes. Holdings first fell below the 10K mark
in 1968.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]