Central banks in Europe, including those in Sweden and Switzerland, have almost stopped selling their gold reserves, hanging on to the security of gold during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, in sharp contrast to the large sales of more than 10 years.



“Clearly now it’s a different world; the mentality is completely different,” Jonathan Spall, director of precious metals sales at Barclays Capital, told the Financial Times.



The banks are bound by the Central Bank Gold Agreement, which was signed after gold miners complained that central bank sales were depressing gold prices, reported sales were down 96 per cent to September of the current year.



According to a survey by the Financial Times, the central banks are unlikely to sell much more gold in the new CBGA year, though some central banks refused to specify their sales plans.



The central banks of Sweden, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia and Switzerland all said they had no plans to sell.



Previous years saw CNGA signatories angling for individual allowances to sell, but the most recent renewal of the agreement in 2009 contained no such quotas, according to Darko Bohnec, vice governor of Slovenia’s central bank.



According to Bloomberg, central banks and the International Monetary Fund sold about 94.5 metric tons of gold in the year that just ended, the lowest amount under an agreement that began in 1999, according to data from the World Gold Council.



Eurozone banks disposed of 6.2 tons, led by Germany, Greece and Malta, while the International Monetary Fund sold 88.3 tons.



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