The Saudi Central Bank is currently sitting on twice as much gold as they previously thought, reports Tarek El-Tablawy of the AP/Washington Post, in a shift that represented “an accounting adjustment” rather than a change in the Kingdom’s gold purchasing policy.
Gold – like oil – took a beating during the global economic downturn. Also like oil, gold prices have climbed steadily this year.
But there appears more to the story than what one can gather from initial reports. El-Tablawy notes:
“The increases, recorded in SAMA’s April Monthly Statistical Bulletin, however fail to even remotely explain the more than doubling of its gold reserves, as reported by the World Gold Council.”
The increase from 24th to 16th overall in world state gold holdings is sure to raise some eyebrows as the Kingdom’s image of one of the wealthiest nations in the world becomes more apparent to world citizens.
The United States dominates the list with more than twice that of Germany’s holdings.
