December Sovereign Gold Reserve Holding Update
The World Gold Council has released the latest sovereign gold reserve holdings data. In December, total gold holdings climbed by 132.7 tonnes to 30,117 tonnes. This is the equivalent of 965 million troy ounce equivalents, which at $1,135/Tr Oz comes out to $1.095 trillion. In the grand scheme of things, it seems like a relatively insignificant insurance amount in case the great fractional reserve banking experiment comes to a premature end. The biggest changes in holdings in the September-December period were for the IMF, which sold 212 tonnes of gold, while India (200 tonnes added), Russia (39.3), Sri Lanka (10) and Mauritius (2) all saw an increase in their gold holdings. The top 5 holders of gold continue to be the U.S., Germany, the IMF, Italy and France. China did not adjust its gold holdings in the last three months of 2009.
