Gordon Browns preference to sell bullion questioned as euro pot drop

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent 800AM GMT twenty-seven March 2010

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In one of his majority argumentative acts as Chancellor, Mr Brown systematic the sale of roughly 400 tons of the inhabitant bullion reserves. Gold prices have risen significantly given the sales, that took place in between 1999 and 2002.

The Prime Minister has fit to sales by observant that the singular European banking was a improved long-term investment than gold. Today, euro resources have up around a third of the countrys reserves, the largest share of any currency.

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Official Treasury sum published this week show that during 2009, the euro resources in the inhabitant haven fell in worth from $24 billion to $22.2 billion. That left the UK with a paper loss of 1.2 billion.

By contrast, Britains superfluous bullion pot gained some-more than 1.6 billion in worth last year. At the begin of 2009, the bullion pot were worth $8.6 billion. At the finish of the year, the worth was $11 billion.

The sum were published in a Treasury inform on the UKs monetary reserves, that showed the sum worth of Britains haven resources rose from $53.9 billion to $66.4 billion.

The inform credited bullion with most of that enlarge "The turn of the UKs unhedged pot rose over the year … especially since of gratefulness goods ensuing from an enlarge in the dollar worth of gold."

Mr Brown has been systematic by the Information Commissioner to recover Treasury writings relating to the bullion sales. He told MPs this week he was happy for the writings to be published, but they have not nonetheless been released.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor pronounced the new Treasury sum were serve explanation of Mr Browns misjudgement over the reserves.

He pronounced "This is some-more justification of the loyal cost still being paid by the British taxpayer as a outcome of the Prime Ministers catastrophic preference to sell off Britains bullion pot at the bottom of the market."

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