Two-Tonne Tiny?

Mauritius just bought two tonnes of IMF gold. But where in the hell is it...?

IT TOOK ONLY a few days for the gold market to understand the impact of the Indian Reserve Bank's purchase of 200 tonnes of IMF gold at the start of November, writes Julian Phillips at GoldForecaster.

Since then, one of several announcements has been made, concerning the balance of 200.3 tonnes still being sold. The IMF has promised to inform us that they will tell us how much they were unable to sell and to sell that amount, if any, slowly in the "open market" without disrupting the price. We will be surprised if there is any left. India has indicated it will buy more if given the chance.

So keep your eye open for the next announcement too. Already Sri Lanka has bought 10 tonnes of IMF Gold. Before that, Mauritius bought 2 tonnes. They will probably reap the benefits of these purchases as people rush to find out where those countries are.

To help you in this, Mauritius is a sub-tropical Island to the North of Madagascar East of South Africa. Populated by fleeing French nobles during the French Revolution, who became sugar planters with a house by the sea and plantations inland – alongside African and subsequently Creole workers – the island was filled with people from the Indian sub-continent from Independence onwards.

Originally a French colony, it was handed to the British as a prize after a sea battle, leaving its neighbor Reunion still very French to this day. (I prefer Reunion for its scenic beauty, black sand beaches and volcanoes – where I had my honeymoon...) A rich country that benefitted from the sanctions imposed on South Africa, Mauritius is now a very popular holiday island for primarily South Africans who visit this hotel-covered island to be pampered for a couple of weeks a year.

So their Buying Gold is not tainted by any political overtones or restrained by any. Perhaps the Indian influence that favors gold anyway and the Indian purchase of 200 tonnes prompted the buying. We believe it was bought for the same reasons as India bought – prudence in the face of a decaying Dollar...

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