IMF Approves Eventual Sale of More Than 400 Tons of Gold to Close Budget Gap

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Apr 07, 2008 17:38 EST

The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a broad financial overhaul plan that could lead to the eventual sale of a little over 400 tons of its substantial gold supplies.

The sale cannot occur without congressional approval as well as legislative action in many of the 184 other nations that are members of the Washington-based lending institution.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn welcomed the board's decision Monday to propose a new framework for the fund, designed to close a projected $400 million budget deficit over the next few years.

--
Actual sale of the gold cannot start immediately because the U.S. member on the IMF board cannot vote for it until Congress approves. Congress has made approval conditional on a broad range of operational changes that Strauss-Khan has pledged to carry out to preserve the relevancy of the 64-year-old organization, whose mission is to promote global financial stability.

Under the plan, the IMF would sell the 403 tons, or nearly 13 million ounces, of gold for about $11 billion over several years. The IMF would keep $4.4 billion on its books, and the remaining $6.6 billion would go into an investment account.


Read more: http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=118199

[grasswire]

1. I hope someone smarter than me is watchdog on this

It sounds fraught with danger.

[defendandprotect]

2. We have gold left . . . ???? ????

[MercutioATC]

3. What do you think we keep in Fort Knox?

Actually, though, this article talks about IMF gold, not U.S. gold.

[Earth_First]

8. Pssst...there hasn't been gold at Knox in decades...

:tinfoilhat:

[MercutioATC]

9. Oh? That'd probably be news to them...

The U.S. Treasury thinks there's 147 million ounces of gold there...

http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=fun_facts13


(ON EDIT)

Ahhh...NM...I just noticed your :tinfoilhat:

:)

[khaos]

11. when was the last time the..

fox went into the hen house to count our chickens for us?

[MercutioATC]

13. That's hardly evidence...

Many countries have gold repositories...I see no evidence that we'd be any different.

[khaos]

20. well, that's not really evidence either.

governments lie; about everything.. why would this be an exception?

[Demeter]

15. The IMF Gold IS US Gold

This nation endowed that worthless organization.

From Wikipedia:

IMF gold reserves

IMF gold reserves refers to 3,217 tonnes of gold held by the International Monetary Fund. It is currently priced at a range of $40 and $50 a troy ounce ($1,300 to $1,600/kg), a price that was fixed in the 1970s before the Nixon government stopped pegging the U.S. dollar to the gold and instead allowed market forces to set the dollar's worth. An attempt to revalue the gold reserve to today's value has met resistance for different reasons. For example, Canada is against the idea of revaluing the reserve, as it would flood the market with gold and therefore depress its price.<5> It is also not clear whether the gold reserve is the property of the IMF or of member countries.

Three quarters of the gold reserve was contributed by G5 members, namely France, Germany, Japan, United States and United Kingdom. The gold piles contributed by the French, the Germans, the Japanese, the Americans and the British are each worth $10 bn.

[MercutioATC]

16. I thought the IMF was supported by all member nations.

No, not equally, but many nations contribute.

[Demeter]

17. I Updated the Above Post==Please see

[Gman]

4. We're liquidating assets for the cash?

We're in deeper trouble than anyone wants to admit publicly.

[Warpy]

5. First the only real asset the treasury has

and then all public utilities including highways, and then land, including national parks.

Trust me, it's coming. That's what happens to debtor nations when they get looted by industrial powers.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Shock and awe, baby. Smirk." -Commander AWOL & republicon homelanders

[defendandprotect]

19. The Big Bad Wolf --- and he bites --- !!!

[Pavulon]

7. 2 guesses what gold prices do...(nt)

[corporatemedia]

14. Guess #1: It goes lower.........Guess #2: It goes higher.........n/t

[bluesmail]

10. IMF 'wants' to liquidate?

Good Lord, Hang on Tight, no no TIGHTER

[Crowman1979]

12. Was the IMF deficit brought about ....

...by Paul Wolfowitz's many expenses?!?!?

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. I gotta ask, WHO'S BUYING??? - 11 billion only pays for a few months of the Iraq genocide anyways.

.
.
.

So it's big dollars for us peasants,

But peanuts to the War-Gang.

[defendandprotect]

21. First, I thought the IMF was pretty much finished as far as any credibility ....

so is this a desperate move to bring in money, or are they cashing out???

[fshrink]

23. High-flying finance gamblers do.

It's just magic. It's gonna wind up exactly where it came from but will have created some added value somewhere in the mean time. It's almost a constant-sum game. Guess who's on the losing side?

[defendandprotect]

22. Probably a good time to remind everyone that . . .

Allen Dulles/Prescott Bush/Herbert Walker in their efforts to finance Hitler cashed in dollars
for gold and shipped it off to Germany ---

Evidently, at the end of the war it was removed from Germany . . . and I'm trying to remember where it ended up?

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. I know all about Prescott and Walker, well some anyways - but on the lighter side

.
.
.

Who knows where the gold went??

This guy might know



Sutherland was great.

[Amonester]

25. It's hidden under Zurich's airport landing lines.

Same place where Marcos hid the gold he stole.

I saw the documentary. That supposedly secret "basement" is FILLED with gold bars.

Incredible place!


On edit: Zurich's airport (instead of Geneva's)