European central banks agreed to a third five-year cap on gold sales and said planned disposals by the International Monetary Fund could be done within the accord.
The European Central Bank and 18 other banks agreed to sell no more than a combined 400 metric tons of the metal a year through September 2014. That’s less than the annual cap of 500 tons in the current agreement, which expires Sept. 26.
“It’s positive for gold,” John Reade, an analyst at UBS AG in London, said by e-mail. Having the agreement “removes the small chance that European central banks would have dumped gold onto the market in an unconstrained manner.”
Central banks sold 73 percent less gold in the first half and full-year disposals may drop to the lowest since 1994, according to estimates from London-based researcher GFMS Ltd. The IMF wants to sell 403 tons from its reserves of 3,217 tons, the third-largest holding after the U.S. and Germany.
