Iraq strengthens its reserves of gold to 96 tons

Economy News _ Baghdad

World Gold Council data revealed that Iraq's reserves of gold amounted to about 96.3 tons at the end of the third quarter of 2018. This allowed him to progress on Arab economies rich in precious metal reserves.
The geopolitical and trade tensions along with Washington's sanctions policy have shaken confidence in the US dollar in recent years, prompting a number of global central banks to increase their purchases of gold.
The World Gold Council's latest report showed that central banks around the world bought around 651.5 tonnes of gold in 2018, noting that Russia and Turkey had raised their reserves at the expense of the dollar.
Countries such as Iraq, India, China and Kazakhstan were among the top gold buyers in 2018. According to data, Iraq increased its reserves last year by 6.45 tons, bringing its total gold holdings to 96.3 tons.
Iraq ranked 37th in the world and the fourth in the Arab countries in terms of gold reserves, and thus the rich Gulf economies such as Kuwait (79 tons), Qatar (31.3 tons) and the UAE (7.5 tons).
The reserves of gold are part of the total reserves owned by a country, for Iraq reserves constitute 6.7% of the total reserves, which amounted to the end of September, 58.451 billion dollars, according to the report of the Council.




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