IMF gold sales may be off-market transactions

Maybe this bit of gold dishoarding is
just the price of keeping China and
Russia from doing a lot more dishoarding
of dollars.

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No Timetable Yet for Proposed Gold Sales

From Reuters
via The Guardian, London
Thursday, February 28, 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7344838

WASHINGTON -- The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday no timetable has been set for the sale of a limited portion -- about 12.9 million ounces (403.3 tonnes) -- of the IMF's gold stocks of 103.4 million ounces.

In a background paper, the IMF said if the gold was sold on the market, as opposed to off-market transactions, the sales would be phased over time to avoid market disruptions, as recommended by an independent panel.

The panel, led by Andrew Crockett, president of JP Morgan Chase, also recommended that IMF gold sales should not add to sales from official sources and should be made under current and future gold accords of European central banks. The current European agreement limits banks' gold sales to no more than 500 tonnes a year.

Profits from the sale of IMF gold will be used to fill a widening income gap at the Washington-based global institution and generate new sources of revenue amid a sharp fall in demand for IMF loans.

The IMF faces an income shortfall of $165 million in fiscal 2007, which is expected to widen to about $400 million by fiscal 2010.

The U.S. Treasury said this week it was confident Congress would approve the gold sales. The move would also require an 85 percent majority of total voting power by member countries.

Spot gold hit a record high of $967.30 an oucne in Europe on Thursday.

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