So the prospects for gold from a central bank perspective is good. A colleague of mine is participating in one of the panel discussions scheduled for tomorrow and he will enlighten you on the Bank’s management of gold reserves. But, allow me to make the following brief comments. The Bank holds around 4 million fine ounces of gold in its foreign reserves.
It has held this net figure stable for the past number of years. Gold is, obviously, an internationally acceptable reserve asset. The Bank is very comfortable holding these gold reserves because of the metal’s war-chest qualities,1 because gold is no-one’s liability, and because it allows prudent diversification in the Bank’s total reserves.