§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much gold has been sold by the Bank of England since he directed the bank to sell gold; on what dates it was sold: and what price was secured for each transaction. [57032]
§ Ruth KellyThe Government has sold 395 tonnes of gold as part of the restructuring of the United Kingdom's foreign currency reserves announced in May 1999. The gold sales programme was completed following the last auction in March 2002.
The date of, the amount of gold sold and the allotment price at each of the 17 gold auctions is set out in the table.
Date Amount sold (Ounces) Allotment price ($/Ounce) 6 July 1999 804,000 261.20 21 September 1999 804,000 255.75 29 November 1999 804,000 293.50 25 January 2000 804,400 289.50 21 March 2000 804,400 285.25 23 May 2000 803,600 275.25 12 July 2000 804,000 279.75 19 September 2000 803,600 270.60 7 November 2000 803,600 264.30 23 January 2001 803,600 268.00 14 March 2001 803,600 266.00 15 May 2001 644,400 268.00 11 July 2001 643,600 267.25 12 September 2001 644,400 280.00 27 November 2001 644,400 273.50 16 January 2002 643,600 283.50 5 March 2002 644,400 296.50 Total/average price 12,707,600 274.95