Call up the reserves
THE LOSERS in all this are the central banks themselves. Almost a quarter of the world's stocks of gold are still held in their vaults. As proprietors of money-printing businesses they try to run their competitor down, but as investors they run themselves down. They need all the reserves they can get, and gold ought to be good for them too. The International Monetary Fund, which is lucky enough to own 3,217 tonnes, fools about with the idea of auctioning them off in aid of good causes in Africa. At the same time, as the world's lender of last resort, it wonders where its next big loan is coming from. It has poured out so much money that the bottom of the till is now in sight. The best thing the IMF could now do for itself and its clients is to marshal the world's central banks into managing the price of gold to their own advantage. A surge in the price of gold would do them all a favour, and would be the most practical help they could give to Russia. After South Africa, Russia is the world's biggest pro- ducer of gold.
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