IMF’s Gold Assets Shrank in April as Russia’s Rose

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund’s gold holdings fell by 15.25 metric tons (490,286 ounces) in May, according to figures from the Washington-based lender. Russia’s assets
expanded by 22.46 tons.

Reserves of gold at the IMF were 2,951.58 tons at the end of May compared with 2,966.83 tons at the end of April, data on the IMF’s website show. Russia increased holdings to 703.1 tons in May,
from 680.64 tons, and has added gold every month since at least
February, the data show.

The IMF plans to sell a total of 403.3 tons of gold. India, Mauritius and Sri Lanka bought 212 tons last year and the IMF in February said it would begin selling the remainder on the open market.
The combined February-to-May sales would leave about 137.5 tons as of
the beginning of last month.

This “is an indication that they will continue to sell the remaining 137.5 tons on-market as opposed to via off-market transactions with other central banks,” said Daniel Major, an analyst
at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London. “Indeed the decline in
gold sales from European central banks and purchases from India, Russia
and China in recent years demonstrates gold’s growing popularity with
central banks.”

Central banks have been adding to reserves and gold-backed exchange-traded fund assets have advanced to a record as investors sought an alternative to currencies and a protection of
wealth from Europe’s debt crisis. Gold traded at $1,243.45 an ounce at
4:16 p.m. in London and reached a record $1,265.30 on June 21.

China Reserves

Central banks and governments added 425.4 tons to their holdings last year to 30,116.9 tons, the most since 1964 and the first expansion since 1988, data from the World Gold Council show.
Official reserves may expand by another 192 to 289 tons this year, CPM
Group, a research and asset-management company in New York, said last
month.

China increased its reserves of gold by 454 tons to 1,054 tons since 2003, the Foreign Exchange Administration said in April last year.

Russia Buys 22 Tons Of Gold In May

Ten days ago we reported the most recent data on gold reserve holdings as presented by the World Gold Council, where we pointed out that Russia had purchased 27.6 tons
of gold in the most recent reporting period, bringing its total to
668.6 tons. It appears Russia is only getting started. According to the
latest IMF data, in the period between April and May, Russia added
another 22.5 tons, bringing its May total to a fresh record of 703.1
tons. As BusinessWeek reports,
Russia "has added gold every month since at least February." At the
same time, The International Monetary Fund’s gold holdings fell by
15.25 metric tons (490,286 ounces). "Reserves of gold at the IMF were
2,951.58 tons at the end of May compared with 2,966.83 tons at the end
of April, data on the IMF’s website show." Good thing the world's
bailout cop is doing all it can to keep gold prices low by transacting
in the open market instead of in prenegotiated transaction. Again, per
BusinessWeek, this “is an indication that they will continue to sell
the remaining 137.5 tons on-market as opposed to via off-market
transactions with other central banks,” said Daniel Major, an analyst
at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London. “Indeed the decline in
gold sales from European central banks and purchases from India, Russia
and China in recent years demonstrates gold’s growing popularity with
central banks.” Well, all Central Banks except those that are printer
happy of course, and are now loaded to the gills with toxic debt that
will continue to impair their currencies until the bitter Keynesian end.

Central banks have been adding to reserves and gold-backed exchange-traded fund assets have advanced to a record as investors sought an alternative to currencies and a protection of wealth from
Europe’s debt crisis. Gold traded at $1,243.45 an ounce at 4:16 p.m. in
London and reached a record $1,265.30 on June 21.

While the paradoxical IMF's agenda is all too clear (sell gold, get cash, but help the CB's by keeping price low), that of Russia is even clearer-
never mind all time record gold prices. Buy. In that,
Putin's country is a spitting image of the GLD, which has added almost
a hundred tons of gold in recent weeks, price considerations be damned.