BoT holding more gold, less US dollars

BANGKOK, 9 May 2011 (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is one of the central banks which have been purchasing more gold and less US dollars in the past few months after the dollar is found falling in value, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

BoT Governor Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul admitted that the BoT has added about 10 tons of gold to the national reserves, raising the amount of gold in the form of foreign exchange reserves from 100 tons to 110 tons.

The governor explained that the move is to maintain the ratio of gold in the foreign exchange reserves at 3% of the total amount. Thailand’s foreign exchange reserves have been increasing lately and now totaled no less than 200 billion US dollars.

Dr Prasan further explained that the BoT is reducing the amount of the US dollar in hand since the asset is falling in value while the US economy remains fragile; therefore, the BoT is investing in other types of assets. He said investing in gold helps diversify the risk, and many countries are doing the same thing.

As of 8 April 2011, the BoT was holding gold worth 5.313 billion US dollars in foreign reserves, up by 15.54% or 714.76 million US dollars from 4.598 billion US dollars at the end of 2010.