Central Bank Buys 10 Tons of Gold from IMF

27th November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

The Central Bank said yesterday it had acquired 10 metric tons of Gold at a cost equivalent to USD 375 million from the International Monetary Fund.

"Through such acquisition, the long-term stability of Sri Lanka's external reserves will be strengthened, since the Gold holdings will provide a stable and long-term cushion against the impact of any potential volatility in major international currencies and financial instruments, in international financial markets," the Bank said.

The gross official reserves of Sri Lanka now exceed US dollars 5.2 billion, which is sufficient to finance 6.4 months of imports.

The Bank also said that as a part of the diversification of the external assets portfolio into various safe financial instruments, the CBSL has been acquiring Gold from the international market over the past several months.

"In fact, many central banks maintain a certain portion of its external reserves in Gold, since Gold is one of the commodities which provides an anchor for long term stability of reserve assets," the Bank added.