India’s gold purchase
印度的黄金交易
Adornment and investment
装饰品与投资
Nov 5th 2009 | DELHI
From The Economist print edition
India is eager for the IMF’s bullion
印度渴望国际货币基金组织的黄金
IF YOU count bangles, necklaces, anklets and other pieces of jewellery, India is the largest repository of gold in the world, according to the World Gold Council. Many Indians see gold as an investment as well as an adornment. India’s post office sells 24-carat gold coins, as small as 0.5 grams, to savers wary of fiat currencies or mutual funds. The latest big investor in the metal is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). On November 3rd the central bank said it had bought 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF, a purchase that would have cost about $6.7 billion. The news pushed the price past $1,090 an ounce for the first time.
据世界黄金协会称，如果算上手镯，项链，脚链和其他珠宝，那么印度则是世界最大的黄金储备国。大多数印度人将黄金同时视为装饰品和投资。印度的邮局向那些对法定通货和共有基金信心不足的储户出售24克拉，即重量相当于0.5克的金币。最近印度储备银行成为黄金贸易中的大买家。11月3日，中央银行称该行已从国际货币基金组织购买了200公吨的黄金，这项贸易金额将达到67亿美元。这个消息使黄金的价格第一次超过了每盎司1090美金的价格。
The IMF’s gold holdings are less decorative than India’s, but also impressive: the third-biggest official stash in the world. Its sale to the RBI is part of a plan to offload 403.3 tonnes, or an eighth of its total. The proceeds will create an endowment to cover the fund’s operating expenses and help expand its lending. It is doing its best not to rock the market by selling first to central banks, in keeping with their agreement in August to sell no more than 2,000 tonnes over five years. But the gold market is now interested in how much central banks might buy, not how much they might sell.
国际货币基金组织的黄金尽管不像印度的黄金那样做成装饰，但是数量惊人，该组织是世界第三大官方黄金储备处。该组织计划售出403.3公吨，即占总储备八分之一的黄金，其与印度储备银行的交易就是此计划的一部分。所获利润将用作该组织的运营经费并且扩大该组织的借贷能力。为了履行该组织与八月签订的五年内售出黄金重量不超过2000公吨的协议，该组织尽其所能，首先与中央银行进行交易来避免市场震荡。然而，黄金市场对中央银行可能的购买量兴趣浓厚，但是对其销售量兴趣缺缺。
The central banks of China, Mexico, the Philippines and Russia have all added to their gold reserves in the past year. The RBI is merely catching up. Its stockpile fell to just 3.5% of its total foreign-exchange reserves (of $281 billion) in September. This purchase will restore it to almost 6%. Every central bank with a large holding of American debt is worried about capital losses if the dollar continues to weaken. Gold offers reassurance. Anyone who wants to try “quantitative easing” in the gold market has to dig a mine.
中国，墨西哥，菲律宾以及俄国四国的中央银行都在去年增加了黄金储备。印度储备银行也只是与之持平。九月份，该行的黄金储备量仅达到其外汇储备（2810亿美元）总量的3.5%。这次交易将黄金储备量提高到6%。所有持有美国国债的中央银行都在担心如果美元持续疲软那么将面临资金流失。黄金能够让人放心。任何人想要在黄金市场中尝试“量化宽松”，那他就去挖个金矿