IMF to sell 191.3 tonnes of gold on market 'shortly'
The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it was ready to sell
191.3 tonnes of gold on the market in a bid to reduce its dependence on
lending revenue.
At Wednesday's market price of about 1,120 dollars an ounce, the gold
to be sold would be worth nearly 6.9 billion dollars.
The fund "will shortly initiate the on-market phase of its gold sales
program" of a total 403.3 tonnes approved for sale last September, the
Washington-based institution said in a statement.
The initial phase was set aside exclusively for off-market sales to
public entities, such as central banks, among the IMF's 186 members.
A combined 212 tonnes was sold during that first phase - more than
half the approved total - snapped up by the central banks of India,
Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
India, the first customer, bought 200 tonnes, followed by Mauritius
(two tonnes) and Sri Lanka (10 tonnes). The IMF said that the 212 tonnes
of gold sold off-market to date have fetched 7.2 billion dollars,
generating profits of about 4.5 billion dollars compared with the price
assumed when the gold sale was approved.
The average price of the gold sold off-market was 1,050 dollars an
ounce, sharply topping the 850 dollars penciled in.
As for what would be done with the additional revenues, Andrew
Tweedie, the fund's finance director, said in the statement that "it is
probably a little early to speculate," given the remaining gold to be
sold.
"We still need to see what happens to the gold price during the
second half of the sale before we can conclude that we have additional
revenues."
The IMF underscored that gold sales were still available to state
entities.
"The initiation of on-market sales does not preclude further
off-market gold sales directly to interested central banks or other
official holders," it said.
IMF members agreed in 2008 that the fund could sell an eighth of its
gold assets in order to diversify its financial model so that it no
longer relies on lending.
Profits from the sales will be used to create an income-generating
endowment that is part of the revamped IMF income model.
"In accordance with the priority of avoiding disruption of the gold
market, the on-market sales will be conducted in a phased manner over
time," in line with an approach used by central banks to avoid market
disruptions, the IMF said.
Certain banks participating in the Central Bank Gold Agreement have
said the IMF gold sales can be accommodated under the agreed ceilings of
400 tonnes annually and 2,000 tonnes in total over the five years that
started on September 27, 2009, the fund noted. AFP |