Gold Reserves And The Bank Of England
by Jack Wagon
gold reserve, gold reserves, world gold reserves
The Bank of England, being the main bank of England, serves as a model for the rest of the banks within the country. It was introduced for the first time in 1694 as the English Government banker. In 1734, the bank was shifted to the famous street of London city known as the ThreadneedleThread needle Street.
The Bank of England was nationalised on 1 March 1946, and gained independence in 1997. Being the central bank, it forms a base for the financial systems in England. The bank is responsible for many functions, mainly ensuring economic stability throughout the country. Its first function is to draft the monetary policy and ensure price stability as economic conditions are very dependent on the currency fluctuations. It is important to keep inflation in check and ensure suitable interest rates in the economy.
Another important role of the Bank of England is that in critical times it lends money to other banks thus, taking them out of the difficult economic situation. If any bank of the country is on the verge of economic deterioration, the Bank of England lends money due to which the bank is prevented from undergoing bankruptcy. Hence, the economic conditions become stable due to this strategy.
The Bank of England comprises gold reserves as insurance, and its value is nearly 4 billion. These gold reserves are held with this bank for over 300 years. In 1999, major part of these gold reserves was sold off in order to improve the bank reputation in the country. This has also helped in increasing the currency storage of the bank. Moreover, nearly 400 tonnes of gold were auctioned in this regard.
The year 2007 turned out to be the worst period in the bankk’s history and the news staggered the whole world as the appearance of cracks in gold was reported. Thus, it was believed to make the god sale a bit difficult with decrease in its sale price as well. The bank had gold reserves in the form of gold bars and coins.
This entire situation made it nearly impossible to trade the gold in the world market. The economy of the country is entirely dependant on the actions of the Bank of England. At that time the demand for gold was on its rise that is why the price of gold was also high.
Due to the deterioration of gold, the price was greatly reduced. As a result, many investors suffered loss of money. The gold was sold at relatively lower rates because of the poor quality of gold.
The Bank of England lost more than 3.8 billion pounds, due to which it was made to face considerable criticism. However, the good reputation and effective portfolio helped the bank in achieving stability in its condition quite soon. However, the economy of the world has already been disturbed for the coming several years.
