2012/11/15

Gold and Central Banks, Q3 2012

 The new issue of Gold Demand Trend is released.

Here is a short summary about the gold demand by Official Sector :
  • Central banks continued to purchase gold in Q3 2012, albeit at a slower pace. Demand of 98 tonnes, worth US $ 5.2 bn, accounted for 9% of overall demand during the period.
  • Brazilian central bank purchased 1.7 tonnes, for the first time since june 2005.
  • Paraguay central bank purchased 7.5 tonnes, representing a more than 10-fold increase from its previous reserves of 0.7 tonnes
  • South Korea central bank increased its holdings of gold by 29% in July (adding 16 tonnes).
  • Sales between central banks (under CBGA agreement) in the last 12 months was the lowest since the beginning of this Agreement in 1999, with an amount of 5.9 tonnes.
Below are shown the biggest official gold reserves, where I've chosen to calculate aggregates relevant to the current multipolar world :

Country or economic pole
Gold Reserves (tonnes), Nov. 2012 WGC report
Euro Area (incl. ECB)
10 787
 EU 27 sum
11 538
USA
8 135
Switzerland
1 040
China + Taiwan + Hong-Kong
1 480
Japan
765
Russia
935
Brazil
35
India
558
South Africa
125
 BRICS sum
3 133
Iran
500 (source, Feb. 2012)
 Gulf Countries sum (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar)
419
Venezuela
362
U.K.
310
Turkey
302
Lebanon
287
Algeria
174
Libya
117
Syria
26

2012/10/31

Courage et Honneur


 Le 30 Octobre 2012, Franck Biancheri est décédé. Son oeuvre est plus que jamais vivante.

Vous ne pouvez comprendre l'Europe d'aujourd'hui et le monde de demain si vous ignorez ce qu'il a apporté.
Nous tous lui devons beaucoup.
Plus que sa mémoire et sa lucidité, cet homme politique d'action et de courage, pétri de démocratie, nous a légué des idées et concepts qui ont marqué et marqueront notre Histoire. Il est un repère de notre conscience sociale.

2012/10/24

Monetary war : from sovereign debt to sovereign gold

 As I wrote in "Le nerf de la guerre monétaire", behind sovereign debt, there's gold. Because the supposed-to-be-deadly Euro sovereign debt crisis is over, and the Euroland is successfully running towards much stronger integration, a new battlefield is being investigated : "Audit the gold Reserves". 

This is a very tactical game, and here are some recent developments:
 We, Europeans, must not be worried. We believe NY Fed when they say the german gold is there. And even if it weren't NY Fed is good for its replacement.

[This article was first updated 10/28 : add links about statements published 10/25 ; it will be further updated depending on future new important publications or press releases]