Turkey, Russia raise gold reserves: IMF

NEW YORK/SINGAPORE - Reuters

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Turkey and Russia have increased their gold reserves, just before prices’ fall to two-year low. REUTERS photo

Russia and Turkey raised their gold reserves in March, the International Monetary Fund has said, increasing their holdings ahead of a spectacular plunge in prices this month which sent gold to its lowest in more than two years.

The gold price sank a combined $225 on April 12 and 15 in a sell-off that surprised ardent gold investors and bulls.

The drop was partly put down to the market being unnerved by news that Greek Cyprus was considering selling gold reserves to raise about 400 million euros ($520 million) to finance part of its bailout.But ahead of this turbulence some central banks increased their reserves.

The Russian Federation, the world’s 8th largest holder, lifted its gold reserve for a fifth straight month in March,
adding 4.7 tons of gold to its reserves, which stood at 981.648 tons by the end of last month, the IMF data showed on April 24.

Turkey raised its holdings by 33 tons to 408.874 tons, and South Korea increased its holdings by 20 tons in February to 104 tons.

Gold has dropped about 14 percent this year, with prices also hit by investors in exchange-traded funds cutting exposure to it on prospects of easing inflation.