Iran switches reserves to gold - report

TEHRAN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Iran has converted financial reserves into gold to avoid future problems, an adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday, after the price of oil fell more than 60 percent from a peak in July.

Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, is under U.N. and U.S. sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme and is now also facing declining revenue from its oil exports after crude prices tumbled.
“With the plans of the presidency…the country’s money reserves were changed into gold so that we wouldn’t be faced with many problems in the future,” presidential adviser Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi was quoted as saying by business daily Poul.

He gave no figures or other details.

Before oil prices plunged by more than 60 percent from a peak of $147 per barrel in July, Iran made windfall gains from its crude exports and in April estimated its foreign exchange reserves at about $80 billion.
Iranian officials in July denied reports Iranian banks were moving funds from Europe, with one report suggesting as much as $75 billion had been withdrawn and converted into gold or placed in Asian banks, because of a threat of tightening sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund said in August that if the price of Iranian crude fell to $75 a barrel, Iran would face a current account deficit in the medium term that would be tough to sustain due to Tehran’s financial isolation.

On Friday, U.S. crude fell $1.20 at $57.04.

Gold futures ended more than 5 percent higher on Friday and bullion ended the week about $10 higher compared with its last Friday’s close of $735.95 as investors covered short positions. (Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian; Writing Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

Reuters | Saturday, November 15, 2008

Bretton Woods gold/dollar peg unlikely at G20

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold surged on Friday as world leaders gathered to battle the economic crisis, amid talk of a new Bretton Woods agreement to shore up the financial system, but calls to revisit the gold standard are unlikely. Read more

Financial crisis: demand for gold soars as price tumbles

Investors have rushed to buy gold bars and bought exchange traded funds, worth US$2.8 billion - the biggest inflow on record.

The onset of a global recession and falling stock markets have triggered a stampede for gold - the traditional safe haven during times of uncertainty. Read more

Mint Widens Freeze on Gold Coin Sales

NEW YORK — Citing extraordinary demand, the U.S. Mint has broadened its freeze on sales of gold bullion coins, as individual investors who are priced out of the futures markets have been piling up their holdings of the metal as a hedge against market uncertainty. Read more

Austria witnesses new gold rush

There’s a new gold rush.

The financial crisis is prompting people to look for safer forms of investment than stocks and shares.

The interest in gold coins is so great that many of the world’s major mints are struggling to keep up with demand, including the Austrian Mint, which produces the Vienna Philharmonic - one of the best-selling bullion coins worldwide.

Sales of Vienna Philharmonic gold coins have gone up by more than 230% since last year.

Kerry Tattersall, the director of marketing at the mint, says production has gone into overdrive. Read more

Germans Stockpiling Gold Amid Market Panic

German gold dealers have stopped taking new orders for the precious metal as demand has skyrocketed. Gold is seen as a safe investment during the market turmoil.

In uncertain economic times, Germans are dumping stocks and shares to take refuge in precious metal, accoring to a Wednesday article in a Berlin newspaper.

German gold dealers report running low on stocks of gold bars and coins. Read more

Gold runs out in German rush

Risk-averse Germans are turning to gold in troubled times - but there’s none left.

German gold dealers say demand has skyrocketed this past week to 10 times normal so no more orders can be taken for the foreseeable future.

“The demand exceeds our capacities by a great deal,” said Heiko Ganss, head of precious metal company Pro Aurum.

“The requests cannot be satisfied right now,” a dealer from the Düsseldorf WGZ Bank confirmed.

“Demand for gold as a conservative investment has risen dramatically,” said stephan Henkel. “right now the demand is about 10 times as high as in normal times.”

Gold deliveries now take between four and six weeks.

The US mint said on Monday it had exhausted some of its supply of bullion coins and was struggling to meet demand for gold, silver and platinum.

South Africa’s Rand Refinery, producer of the world’s most popular gold bullion coin, the Krugerrand, temporarily ran out of the coins in August.

UK Evening Standard | Allan Hall | Friday, October 10, 2008

Gold coins in high demand during market turmoil

A string of governors from across the eurozone have today issued grim warnings in what seemed a coordinated move to prepare the markets for interest rate cuts, perhaps within days. Read more

Max Keiser: The dollar will soon decline and gold will soon rise

Read more

Central banks all but stop lending gold

Central banks have all but stopped lending gold to commercial and investment banks and other participants in the precious metals market, in a move that on Tuesday sent the cost of borrowing bullion for one-month to more than twenty times its usual level. Read more

Next Page »