Central Bank rejects speculation of gold sales

The Central Bank this week rejected speculation of large quantities of gold sales from its vaults saying a ‘fake letter’ is doing the rounds on this issue.

It said the speculation is apparently based on a copy of a fake letter dated July 14, 2007 purported to have been issued under the signature of the “Secretary to the Finance Minister” which refers to a sale of “7000 kg of 24 k gold bullion”. The bank said this fake letter had already been referred to the CID by the Ministry of Finance and Planning for further action. “It appears that certain interested parties are making use of this fake letter to spread a canard that the country’s gold reserves are being sold in order to enable the government to meet its expenses. The public is hereby notified that such allegations are blatantly false,” the bank said.