04:27 PM
Tuesday 03 May 2022
Books – Mustafa Eid:
Data from the World Gold Council showed that Saudi Arabia topped the Arab countries with the highest reserves of gold in central banks among 40 countries, banks and international institutions classified by the Council in its data.
Saudi Arabia ranked 18th in the world in the list that included 5 other Arab countries, including Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Iraq.
The list was topped by the United States of America, with a quantity of 8133.5 tons, representing 68% of the reserves of the US Central Bank, and by a large difference from Germany, which ranked second, with a quantity of 3358.5 tons of gold, which also represented 68% of the total reserves of the German Central Bank.
Egypt ranked 33 globally among the 40 centers included in the report, with a quantity of 125 tons, representing about 19% of the foreign exchange reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt, after purchasing about 44 tons last February, as the report described it as the largest buyer at the level of Central banks in the first quarter of this year.
In the following infographic, Masrawy monitors the ranking of the six Arab countries included in the World Gold Council report among 40 central banks and international institutions, and the balance of their gold reserves at the end of last March.
And the data of the Central Bank of Egypt, recently revealed, that the value of gold in Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves increased by about 2.7 billion dollars, compared to what it was at the end of last January at 4.2 billion dollars.
The value of gold in reserves continued to grow in March, during which it increased by about $900 million compared to what it was at the end of February, to reach about $7.8 billion by the end of March.
This came despite the decrease in the value of the net foreign exchange reserves at the Central Bank during last March by about 3.9 billion dollars, compared to the end of February, to reach currently about 37.1 billion dollars.
The World Gold Council report explained that for some time, Egypt has been adding gold from a local mine but usually in small increments, and the Egyptian government has also taken steps to increase local gold production in the long term.
“But the decline in foreign exchange reserves in January and February may mean that the 44 tons did not all come from domestic sources,” he added.
Foreign exchange reserves are a component of foreign exchange reserves, in addition to gold and special drawing units.