Dutch Central Bank Says It Didn't Buy Gold In December

Author: Paul Ploumis
28 Jan 2015 Last updated at 02:12:04 GMT
(Kitco News) - To add confusion to the gold market, the Dutch central bank says that it has not increased its gold reserves, correcting earlier information from the International Monetary Fund.

"De Nederlandsche Bank has not increased its gold holdings. Several media reported this Tuesday that based on IMF figures, DNB's gold stock increased in December 2014. This is incorrect," the bank said in a press release, correcting earlier media reports.

According to the figures from the IMF, the Dutch central bank has the tenth highest gold reserves in the world. According to the Dutch central bank, its reserves remain unchanged at 612.50 tonnes, making up 53.9% of the country's total foreign reserves.

In early November, the Dutch central bank announced that it had repatriated 122.5 tonnes, worth about $5 billion of gold,  back to Amsterdam from the U.S.

At the time, the bank said that the move was made to better balance the country's division of gold reserves and boost public confidence in the central bank.

The IMF also reported on Tuesday that the Russian Federation, defying continued expectations it would start selling its gold to support its weakened ruble, added 20.73 tonnes of gold to its reserves.

The Russian Federation now holds 1,208.23 tonnes of gold in reserves, and has the sixth largest reserve in the world. The news of Russia's growing gold reserves came a day after Standard and Poor's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating to junk.

The Russian economy is expected to slide into a recession in 2015 with economists forecasting that the economy will contract 6.5% this year. Economic sanctions from Western nations as well as weak oil prices are crippling the country's economy and currency.

Finally the IMF reported that Kazakhstan increased its gold reserves by 175.8 tonnes and Belarus bought 39 tonnes.

Courtesy: Kitco News