Where Is The IMF's Gold?

Investment Research Dynamics

In mid-2009, the IMF announced that it was going to sell a portion of its gold.  It ended up selling 403 tonnes of its then-reported 3218 tonnes of gold.  Back then the original announcement made it sound like the IMF was trying to push down the price of gold with a big sale announcement, as the price of gold went parabolic after the 2008 de facto collapse of the financial system.   The excuse for the gold sale was to “shore up” IMF finances.  However, historically, the IMF has sold off portions of its gold holdings as a policy to reduce gold’s role in the global fiat currency system.

At the time, India and China jointly delivered a research paper which suggested that, if the IMF were interested, the two countries would be interested in buying all of the IMF’s gold. The IMF limited its sale to the 403 tonnes:   200 tonnes to India, 2 tonnes to Mauritius and 10 tonnes to Sri Lanka.  By  December 2010 the IMF concluded the sale of the balance of the gold without ever disclosing the buyers.

The IMF’s gold comes primarily from the member countries, who pledge gold to the IMF as part of the cost of their “quota” assigned to become a member country.  25% of a country’s “quota” were to be paid in gold.  The IMF states that its gold is held in various depositories, like the NY Fed, around the world.  The truth is that most of the gold “pledged” to the IMF has likely been leased out by the custodial Central Banks.

Curiously, over the IMF’s 71 year history, it’s sold its gold intermittently.  Each time the demand by Central Banks to buy that gold has far exceeded the amount of gold offered.  This is an important point to note because it drives home the point that gold is significantly undervalued and that real Central Bank demand emerges when large quantities (100’s of tonnes) of gold are offered for sale.

In the latest episode of the Shadow of Truth, we discuss the interesting shift occurring in the IMF’s SDR structure and what it means for the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.  We also discuss why the price of gold will likely begin to move much higher as we move from summer into autumn: