You are here

Barclays pledges to continue silver fund despite price plunge

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Kevin Plumberg
Reuters
Friday, April 21, 2006

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?
type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-
21T180323Z_01_N21256689_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-RUSSIA-DOLLAR-UPDATE-2.XML

WASHINGTON -- Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Friday
questioned the dollar's pre-eminence as the world's "absolute"
reserve currency, given its recent volatility and the size of the
U.S. trade deficit.

The remarks helped send the dollar lower against major currencies
and caused Wall Street analysts to wonder whether central banks will
increasingly diversify their holdings out of dollars.

Kudrin, in Washington for the semiannual meetings of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank, told reporters at a news
briefing the dollar's value had not been very stable in the past
several years, particularly against the euro.

"This causes significant changes in the international situation and
that is why we do not understand the U.S. dollar at the moment as
the universal or absolute reserve currency," he said. "The
international community can hardly be satisfied with this
instability."

"Whether it is the U.S. dollar exchange rate or the U.S. trade
balance, it definitely causes concerns with regard to the dollar's
status as a reserve currency," Kudrin added.

The euro initially jumped nearly half a cent against the dollar to a
session high around $1.2360 after Kudrin's comments, but later pared
these gains to trade around $1.2335, still up a little on the day.

Russia's foreign currency and gold reserves of $212 billion are the
largest of any country outside of Asia.

Currency traders were especially sensitive to any remarks regarding
the dollar's reserve status after the Swedish central bank earlier
Friday said it had decreased its holdings of dollars to 20 percent
from 37 percent of total holdings.

It increased its euro reserves to 50 percent from 37 percent.

The dollar declined more than 30 percent against a basket of major
currencies from 2002 to the end of 2004, largely on concerns over
the growing U.S. trade deficit -- which last year widened to $723
billion, nearly 6 percent of gross domestic product.

However, last year the dollar rallied 13 percent, thanks largely to
the Federal Reserve's campaign of steady interest rate increases.

The dollar composes around two-thirds of the foreign currency
reserves of central banks around the world, while the euro makes up
nearly a quarter, according to the latest data from the
International Monetary Fund.

Some of Russia's oil revenues are being kept in a budget
stabilization fund, currently worth $60 billion, and the Finance
Ministry has proposed investing the money in highly-rated fixed
income assets denominated in dollars, euros and British pounds.

Asked whether Russia will continue to recycle its so-called
petrodollars back into U.S. financial assets, Kudrin said only, "We
are developing cooperation in the international arena."

Russia's central bank rejigged its guide to daily reserve weightings
in March but did not reveal how the basket of currencies would be
composed. Last year, the central bank tweaked its guide to 60 U.S.
cents for every 40 euro cents from 65/35.

The country's central bank continues to accumulate additional
reserves at a rapid rate as it soaks up windfall oil revenues and
prints roubles to maintain a competitive exchange rate.

Turning to the issue of Russia's proposal to repay around $12
billion of debt owed to the Paris Club of international creditors,
Kudrin said he expects a decision as early as next month.

Russia, which has benefited from the skyrocketing price of oil, paid
back $15 billion of debt last year. But Kudrin did not comment on
the $28 billion of additional debt owed to the Paris Club and a
potential schedule of repayment.

U.S. crude oil futures rose to a record $75 per barrel on Friday.

----------------------------------------------------

To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:

gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:

gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Caution: America Online prohibits delivery of GATA
dispatches to AOL e-mailboxes.

----------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Free sites:

http://www.jsmineset.com

http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com

http://www.mineweb.com/

http://www.gold-eagle.com/

http://www.kitco.com/

http://www.usagold.com/

http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html

http://www.GoldSeek.com/

http://www.GoldReview.com/

http://www.capitalupdates.com/

http://www.DailyReckoning.com

http://www.goldenbar.com/

http://www.silver-investor.com

http://www.thebulliondesk.com/

http://www.sharelynx.com/

http://www.mininglife.com/

http://www.financialsense.com

http://www.goldensextant.com

http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.depression2.tv

http://www.moneyfiles.org/

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html

http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html

http://www.goldcolony.com

http://www.miningstocks.com

http://www.mineralstox.com

http://www.freemarketnews.com

http://www.321gold.com

http://www.SilverSeek.com

http://www.investmentrarities.com

http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)

http://www.resourceinvestor.com

http://www.miningmx.com

http://www.prudentbear.com

http://www.dollarcollapse.com

http://www.kitcocasey.com

http://000999.forumactif.com/

http://www.golddrivers.com/

http://www.goldpennystocks.com/

http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/

Subscription sites:

http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/

http://www.goldinsider.com/

http://www.hsletter.com

http://www.interventionalanalysis.com

http://www.investmentindicators.com/

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

http://www.investmentrarities.com/

----------------------------------------------------

COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS

Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com

Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Lone Star Silver Exchange
1702 S. Highway 121
Suite 607-111
Lewisville, Texas 75067
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com

MRCS Canada
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
http://www.mrcscanada.com
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
mrcscanada@shaw.ca

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
http://www.buysilvernow.com

Richard Nachbar Rare Coins
5820 Main St., Suite 601
Williamsville, N.Y. 14221-8232
877-622-4227
http://www.CoinExpert.com
nachbar@coinexpert.com

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066

----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO HELP GATA

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html

By GoldMoney:

http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

Donors of $200 or more will receive copies
of "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado, and "The Coming
Collapse of the Dollar" by James Turk and
John Rubino.

GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.