Iraq Quadruples Gold Reserves In Two Months - First Time In Years

[qj3]

This is huge!! Things are moving real quick!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-21/iraq-quadruples-gold-reserves-two-months-first-time-years

[Markinsa]

Currency Ranked Returns, GBP – (Bloomberg)

Iraq quadrupled its gold holdings to 31.07 tonnes over the course of three months between August and October, data from the International Monetary Fund showed on yesterday.

The IMF's monthly statistics report showed the country's holdings increased by some 23.9 tonnes in August to 29.7 tonnes.

That was followed by a 2.3-tonne rise in September to 32.09 tonnes and then a cut of 1.02 tonnes in October to 31.07 tonnes. There was no data for November.

It is Iraq's first major move in years to bolster its gold reserves.

More recently, Brazil raised its gold holdings by 14.68 tonnes, or 28 percent, in November, bringing its bullion reserves to 67.19 tonnes.

The addition comes on the heels of an even bigger increase in October when the South American country added 17.17 tonnes to its reserves. In September, it increased holdings by 2 tonnes.

Meanwhile Turkey cut its gold holdings last month by 5.84 tonnes to 314 tonnes from October. The country allows commercial banks to use gold as collateral for loans, and changes to its balance sheet are often connected to such activity.

Belarus upped its reserves by 1.39 tonnes to 42.7 tonnes, while Russia, which had both bought and sold gold on a number of occasions this year, increased its holdings by 2.86 tonnes to 937.8 tonnes.

The central bank of Iraq’s quadrupling of gold reserves is important as there are many oil rich nations in the world with sizeable dollar and euro currency reserves and only a small allocation to gold by these central banks alone could lead to higher gold prices.

The smart money will continue to dollar cost average and buy gold on dips.

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[SocalDinar]

Hopefully they have this gold in their own vaults and not held by the federal reserve.

If we are to believe the CBIs numbers ( I don't) wouldn't we see their foreign reserves reflect this bought gold

Thank qj3 and markinsa

[Jejune]

Hopefully they have this gold in their own vaults and not held by the federal reserve.

If we are to believe the CBIs numbers ( I don't) wouldn't we see their foreign reserves reflect this bought gold

Thank qj3 and markinsa

It i recall correctly, gold, USD, Euro, GBP, etc, are all accounted as one item (foreign reserves) in their spreadsheet. So since they probably traded euros and USD for gold, you might not see any large change in their reserve number.

[MiuraDude]

Question......anyone care to speculate on why the Iraqis would make this particular move at this particular time?

[SocalDinar]

It i recall correctly, gold, USD, Euro, GBP, etc, are all accounted as one item (foreign reserves) in their spreadsheet. So since they probably traded euros and USD for gold, you might not see any large change in their reserve number.

DG

Im not sure either but it's a billion dollars worth of gold.

But if the Fed holds it it's still just paper

[Hooter]

Question......anyone care to speculate on why the Iraqis would make this particular move at this particular time?

They're concerned about the US going over the fiscal cliff, devaluing the dollar, and thus affecting the value of the DFI fund.

[SocalDinar]

They're concerned about the US going over the fiscal cliff, devaluing the dollar, and thus affecting the value of the DFI fund.

I agree Hooter but we really went over that cliff and our leaders just will not admit

They have to keep borrowing just to pay off the interest we owe.

Gold might sound like a good bet to Iraq . The IMF has done well with their gold reserves