Famous last words

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 11:40

Written by Editor

“Gold is no longer a profitable investment,” said then economic minister Pedro Solbes in 2007 to justify the Bank of Spain's selling off more than 32 per cent of its gold reserves. At the time, gold was selling for $669 an ounce – at the close of last week, it was selling for $1,508, and rising. The 4.3 million ounces of gold the Bank sold in 2007 for $2,867 million (€2,108 million at the exchange rate then) are now valued at $6,471 million (€4,460 million). The Bank of Spain has sold 46 per cent of its gold reserves since Spain went over to the euro in 2000 – the largest amount of gold to leave the country since the Republican government sent around two thirds of its gold reserves to Moscow for “safekeeping” during the Civil War.