Swiss central bank to sell 283T of gold

The bank said it had already sold about 603 tons since May 2000, raking in a little over Sf9.1bn (US$6.1bn), Reuters reported. It said gold would continue to be sold in regular transactions with current customers.

The SNB is selling gold it no longer needs for monetary reserves and has benefited from a bullish bullion market, selling the precious metal at prices above the gold market reference rate, the bank said.

It said in June the average price of the gold sold - at a rate of roughly 1 ton per day - since May 2000 was $279.40 per ounce, or Sf15 140 per kg.

It then said the market value of the remaining unsold gold, plus revenues from gold sold, was Sf21bn at end-May.

Gold has seen a bull run mainly due to cutbacks in mining firms' price hedging operations and a boost in private demand.

Investors have shifted into gold amid unclear economic trends, concern over individual firms' financial health and rising geopolitical tensions after the September 11 attacks last year.

The gold sales by the SNB fall within the framework of a September 1999 accord between 15 central banks, limiting gold sales to 2 000 tonnes until September 2004.

The Swiss government has yet to devise a widely acceptable plan for utilising the windfall proceeds from the gold sales after Swiss voters on Sunday failed to back plans to use the cash pile for the needy at home or abroad.

Options now being floated include slashing national debt, giving the money to regional and national governments, providing tax breaks for families, financing an innovation fund for the Swiss economy, or revisiting aid to state pensions.