Business News of Tuesday, 29 December 2015

Source: classfmonline.com

Ghana 72nd on gold holdings ranking

Gold Bars Gold Bars

Ghana is 72nd on the World Official Gold Holdings table compiled using latest data from the International Financial Statistics (IFS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for December 2015.

The gold holdings table provides information on each country’s gold reserves and the proportion this represents of their total external reserves.

Ghana is 72 out of 100 countries with 8.7 tonnes representing 7.0% of reserves.

IFS data are two months in arrears, so holdings are as of October 2015 for most countries, September 2015 or earlier for late reporters. The table does not list all gold holders: countries, which have not reported their gold holdings to the IMF in the last six months are not included, while other countries are known to hold gold, but they do not report their holdings publicly. Where the World Gold Council (WGC) knows of movements that are not reported to the IMF or misprints, changes have been made.

The value of gold holdings is calculated using the end of month London PM fix gold price published daily by The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd. In October, the end of month gold price was $1142.35.

Read the full table below:

WORLD OFFICIAL GOLD HOLDINGS International Financial Statistics, December 2015*

Tonnes % of reserves** Tonnes % of reserves** 1 United States 8,133.5 73.4% 51 Malaysia 37.9 1.5% 2 Germany 3,381.0 67.7% 52 WAEMU3) 36.5 10.2% 3 IMF 2,814.0 1) 53 Peru 34.7 2.1% 4 Italy 2,451.8 65.6% 54 Slovakia 31.7 40.3% 5 France 2,435.5 65.6% 55 Azerbaijan 30.2 11.9% 6 China 1,722.5 1.8% 56 Ukraine 27.4 7.2% 7 Russia 1,370.6 13.6% 57 Syria 25.8 5.4% 8 Switzerland 1,040.0 6.4% 58 Morocco 22.0 3.6% 9 Japan 765.2 2.3% 59 Sri Lanka 22.0 11.8% 10 Netherlands 612.5 56.5% 60 Afghanistan 21.9 11.2% 11 India 557.7 5.8% 61 Nigeria 21.4 2.4% 12 ECB 504.8 25.8% 62 Serbia 17.9 5.6% 13 Turkey6) 500.9 15.3% 63 Cyprus 13.9 60.7% 14 Taiwan 423.6 3.5% 64 Bangladesh 13.8 1.9% 15 Portugal 382.5 72.9% 65 Cambodia 12.4 6.7% 16 Venezuela 361.0 67.4% 66 Qatar 12.4 1.2% 17 Saudi Arabia 322.9 1.8% 67 Ecuador 11.8 12.3% 18 United Kingdom 310.3 8.6% 68 Czech Republic 10.0 0.6% 19 Lebanon 286.8 20.9% 69 Tajikistan 8.9 71.4% 20 Spain 281.6 18.8% 70 Mauritius 8.9 7.8% 21 Austria 280.0 43.5% 71 Laos 8.9 27.1% 22 Belgium 227.4 33.9% 72 Ghana 8.7 7.0% 23 Kazakhstan 216.3 27.8% 73 Paraguay 8.2 5.0% 24 Philippines 195.6 8.9% 74 Myanmar 7.3 3.6% 25 Algeria 173.6 3.8% 75 Guatemala 6.9 3.3% 26 Thailand 152.4 3.5% 76 Macedonia 6.8 10.4% 27 Singapore 127.4 1.8% 77 Tunisia 6.8 3.3% 28 Sweden 125.7 7.8% 78 Latvia 6.6 6.8% 29 South Africa 125.2 10.0% 79 Ireland 6.0 10.5% 30 Mexico 121.7 2.5% 80 Lithuania 5.8 22.1% 31 Libya 116.6 5.0% 81 Mozambique 5.6 7.3% 32 Greece 112.6 70.1% 82 United Arab Emirates 5.0 0.3% 33 BIS2) 108.0 1) 83 Nepal 4.9 2.8% 34 Korea 104.4 1.0% 84 Bahrain 4.7 2.9% 35 Romania 103.7 9.9% 85 Brunei Darussalam 4.5 5.3% 36 Poland 102.9 3.7% 86 Kyrgyz Republic 4.1 8.1% 37 Iraq 89.8 4.9% 87 Colombia 3.5 0.3% 38 Australia 79.9 6.4% 88 Slovenia 3.2 12.1% 39 Kuwait 79.0 8.8% 89 Aruba 3.1 15.4% 40 Indonesia 78.1 2.8% 90 Hungary 3.1 0.3% 41 Egypt 75.6 15.8% 91 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.0 2.3% 42 Brazil 67.2 0.7% 92 Canada 3.0 0.1% 43 Denmark 66.5 3.1% 93 Luxembourg 2.2 10.5% 44 Pakistan 64.5 12.7% 94 Hong Kong 2.1 0.0% 45 Argentina 61.7 8.4% 95 Iceland 2.0 1.6% 46 Finland 49.1 17.3% 96 Papua New Guinea 2.0 3.7% 47 Bolivia 42.5 10.7% 97 Trinidad and Tobago 1.9 0.6% 48 Belarus4) 41.7 32.8% 98 Haiti 1.8 3.5% 49 Jordan 41.1 8.5% 99 Albania 1.6 1.9% 50 Bulgaria 40.2 6.6% 100 Yemen 1.6 1.1%

WORLD OFFICIAL GOLD HOLDINGS International Financial Statistics, December 2015*

Other Tonnes % of reserves** World7) 32,686.8 1) Euro Area (incl. ECB) 10,788.6 55.0% CBGA 4 signatories 5) 11,954.3 31.8%

NOTES

* This table was updated in December 2015 and reports data available at that time. Data are taken from the International Monetary Fund's International Financial Statistics (IFS), December 2015 edition, and other sources where applicable. IFS data are two months in arrears, so holdings are as of October 2015 for most countries, September 2015 or earlier for late reporters. The table does not list all gold holders: countries which have not reported their gold holdings to the IMF in the last six months are not included, while other countries are known to hold gold but they do not report their holdings publicly. Where the WGC knows of movements that are not reported to the IMF or misprints, changes have been made.

**The percentage share held in gold of total foreign reserves, as calculated by the World Gold Council. The value of gold holdings is calculated using the end of month London PM fix gold price published daily by The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd. In October the end of month gold price was $1142.35 Data for the value of other reserves are taken from IFS, table ‘Total Reserves minus Gold’.

1. BIS and IMF balance sheets do not allow this percentage to be calculated. In the case of any countries, up to date data for other reserves are not available.

2. BIS data are updated each year from the BIS’s annual report to reflect the Bank’s gold investment assets excluding any gold held in connection with swap operations, under which the Bank exchanges currencies for physical gold. The bank has an obligation to return the gold at the end of the contract.

3. West African Economic Monetary Union including the central bank.

4. Includes only "Monetary gold" as of February 2014.

5. Signatories to the fourth Central Bank Gold Agreement which commenced in September 2014. The signatores include: ECB, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

6. Gold has been added to Turkey’s balance sheet as a result of a policy accepting gold in its reserve requirements from commercial banks. Please see this link for information on this policy action http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/57c5777d-1f48-4eb4-98ba-af4c6aaddc20/ANO2012-38.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=57c5777d-1f48-4eb4-98ba-af4c6aaddc20.

7. World total as calculated by the IMF. This will not equal the total for the countries in the table as ‘World total’ will include data for countries beyond the top 100 and for countries that do not publish their reserves. World total also captures BIS holdings inclusive of swap operations (please see footnote 2 above for World Gold Council treatment of BIS holdings).

8. In July 2015 The State Bank of Vietnam stated that gold reserves totalled 10 tonnes. This is omitted from our ranking above due to the current absence of any published data.

Please see Disclaimer on the following page.

"DISCLAIMER

This information is provided solely for general information and educational purposes. It is not, and should not be construed as, an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, gold, any gold related products or any other products, securities or investments. It does not, and should not be construed as acting to, sponsor, advocate, endorse or promote gold, any gold related products or any other products, securities or investments.

This information does not purport to make any recommendations or provide any investment or other advice with respect to the purchase, sale or other disposition of gold, any gold related products or any other products, securities or investments, including without limitation, any advice to the effect that any gold related transaction is appropriate for any investment objective or financial situation of a prospective investor. A decision to invest in gold, any gold related products or any other products, securities or investments should not be made in reliance on any of this information. Before making any investment decision, prospective investors should seek advice from their financial advisers, take into account their individual financial needs and circumstances and carefully consider the risks associated with such investment decision.

While the accuracy of any information communicated herewith has been checked, neither the World Gold Council nor any of its affiliates can guarantee such accuracy. In no event will the World Gold Council or any of its affiliates be liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance on such information or for any consequential, special, punitive, incidental, indirect or similar damages arising from, related to or connected with such information, even if notified of the possibility of such damages.