Gold And Lebanon
Lebanon is a frightening place to live in because of the bomb attacks all the other problems that might occur there. But have you ever had the interest in finding out that Lebanon is ranked on the 15th place in the world when it comes to gold reserves?
The largest gold reserve in the Middle East and North Africa can be found in Lebanon. The gold reserve was 9.2 billion dollars at the end of 2009.
It was ranked on the 15th place globally by the World Gold Council. If we don’t take into consideration the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, then it is safe to say that Lebanon holds about 1.1% of the world’s gold reserve. Lebanon received its gold in the 60s and the 70s.
The total amount of gold in Lebanon is equivalent to 28.1% of the GDP, putting Lebanon on the first place among other 105 countries. The gold is used by the Central Bank in order to support the Lebanese pound in the face of depreciation and as means of safety against a financial crisis. The gold can be used by the Parliament to cover soft loans on the local or international market or it can be liquidated. Experts agree that it would be a mistake to liquidate the gold reserve and they reassure the people that both the government and the Central Bank will keep the gold right where it is.
Half of the gold reserves can be found in Fort Knox and the other half is stored in the Central Bank. The Central Bank foreign currency reserves have reached a peak of 28.6 billion dollars in 2009 declared the governor of the bank, Said Salameh. The transfers rose by 10% in 2009 and Said Salameh concluded that 2009 was a good year because it brought a surplus of 7.8 billion dollars.
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