Gold is the most precious metal in the world. Its value and durability has made it to be used by central banks of different countries as a store of value and the central bank produces paper money valued at the value of deposits in their possession. These deposits are known as Gold reserves. It is a guarantee that a country is capable of paying depositors the value of paper money in circulation. In the past, Gold reserves were used as prerequisite for settlement of international transactions but over the years this tradition has faded off and countries are using other sources to transact. Gold was used as currency in the ancient days and most traders stored a good percentage of the element which has now grown to be the most expensive metal in the world. The price of gold currently stands at $1900/Oz. an attempt to revalue the amount of Gold held by different central banks has found tremendous resistance from countries like Canada.
The International Monetary Fund which was crated in 1945 to aid its members, give financial advice and monitor economic affairs is mended to keep a record of Gold reserves held by different countries. They give a report to the World Gold Council which in turn ranks different countries in regards to what reserves they hold. This article will try and give an insight of the worlds top ranked countries in regards to Gold reserves. This statistics are as at August 2011. The United States is the country holding most of the largest reserves. It has about 8155.5 tones. These gold reserves are mostly held in Fort Knox in Kentucky with some reserves in Denver, Philadelphia among other locations in the country. This is why the US dollar has been stable for a number of years. It is however worth noting that the country abandoned the Gold standards long time ago.
Second country with the largest Gold Reserves
The second country with the largest Gold Reserve is Germany. It holds about 3401 tones of gold which have been stored in the countries central bank commonly known as the Duetsche Bundesbank which is found in Frankfurt. However; in the resent past, a report by an international journalist Max Keiser has indicated that part of these reserves are being held by the New York Federal Reserves. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes third in this order. This is not a country but an organization that help stabilize international markets and aid its member’s country in financial advice and economic empowerment. It holds about 2846.7 tones in its reserves. The organization buy and sell its Gold reserves so that to support certain economic activities in the world.
The Gold Reserves of Italy
Italy holds Gold reserves to a tune of 2451.8 tones. These gold reserves are managed by the Banca D’Italia. This is one of the countries suffering from financial crisis which in turn threaten the economy of the entire Europe zone. Other countries with the same crises include Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. This is currently due to the crisis faced by the countries Prim minister Silvio Berlusconi. France comes next with reserves of 2435.4 tones. These reserves have been held in the Banque de France which is the countries central depository. China which is one of the world’s most popular countries in terms of Gold production holds reserves of 1054.1 tones. This is the world’s largest producers of gold and also buys gold from its local mines without informing the international community. The country justifies this action by saying that international markets have a higher price. Switzerland comes in seventh with gold reserves of 1040.1 tones while Russia have 775.2 tones, Japan with 765.2 tones and Netherlands conclude the ten largest Gold reserves countries with 615.5 tones.