Until the 60s of the XX century, the country's gold reserve was created to provide the national currency, and any monetary unit could be exchanged for an equivalent amount of gold. In the 60s, this was abandoned, and now the gold reserve serves to stabilize the exchange rate of the national currency, and also performs anti-crisis functions. The largest gold reserves are in the United States.
Instructions
Step 1
The USA has in reserve 8133.5 tons of gold. The foundation of the gold reserve was created at the height of the Great Depression in the 30s of the XX century. By the end of World War II, the volume of stored yellow metal peaked at 20,005 tons. State Reserve vaults are located in Fort Knox and the basements of the Federal Reserve Bank. Since the 60s, the gold reserve has been actively used to maintain a stable dollar exchange rate, which has reduced the gold reserve by more than 2 times. In addition to American gold, the United States holds gold reserves of more than 60 countries, but their volumes were not disclosed.
Step 2
Germany ranks second in terms of gold reserves. The German National Bank (Bundesbank) announces the figure at 3396.3 tons. The German gold reserve began to build up in 1951 and by 1968 had reached 4,000 tons. Currently, 45% of German gold is stored in the United States, 31% in the vaults of the Bundesbank, 13% in the Bank of England and 11% in the Bank of France. Every year, 5 tons of this stock is spent on minting precious coins for the purpose of selling them.
Step 3
The third place is occupied by Italy with a stock of 2452 tons. In recent decades, the Italian government has been pursuing a policy of increasing gold and foreign exchange reserves in order to stabilize the economy. For example, in the last year alone, the amount of gold in the vaults of the Bank of Italy has grown by 2.4%.
Step 4
France holds a little less gold reserves - 2,435 tons. And not so long ago, the French overtook the Italians in their gold reserves, but due to the unfavorable economic situation in Europe over the past year, the French treasury has lost 249 tons. Unlike many European countries, France has kept its gold from the very beginning in its homeland, not in the United States.
Step 5
The fifth place with an indicator of 1054 tons (data for 2009) belongs to the People's Republic of China. Since 2009, China has stopped publishing its stocks. But at the same time he became the world leader in gold mining and at the same time began to buy gold on world exchanges. Considering the amount of purchased and mined gold, experts estimate China's gold reserves at 2,700 tons. If this is true, the Chinese are in third place in terms of gold reserves.
Step 6
The gold reserve of the Russian Federation is 1069 tons and Russia occupies only the seventh place in terms of the volume of the yellow metal. Although not so long ago, our country was only in 9th place. Russia, like China, occupies a leading position in gold mining and annually increases its gold reserves by 6%.
