Draghi Orders Cyprus To Sell All Gold Reserves!

April 12, 2013 By The Doc 16 Comments

Goldmanite Mario Draghi has just issued Cyprus an ultimatum that the nation’s gold reserves must be liquidated to satiate the Vampire Squid…er…the ECB for Cyprus’ bailout.  In response, Cyprus’ Central Bank President Panicos Demetriades just stated: 

• PANICOS DEMETRIADES SAYS CYPRUS CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE UNDER ATTACK.

As Bloomberg reports:

“The decision is going to be taken by the central bank,” Draghi said after a meeting of euro-area finance officials in Dublin. “What’s important, however, is that what is being transferred to the government budget out of the profits made out of the sales of gold should cover first and foremost any potential loss that the central bank might have from its ELA.”

ELA stands for Emergency Liquidity Assistance, a lifeline that can be offered by national central banks in the euro region to commercial banks that can’t get funding.

Asked about a letter he wrote to Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Draghi said the letter is “very, very clear.” He said the government must abide by the central bank’s handling of the gold stock, since it is independent from political control under European rules.

“The independence of central banks in the euro area is enshrined in the treaty,” Draghi said. “The ECB will look at developments in Cyprus from this angle.”

Speaking alongside Draghi, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said selling gold “has always been an option put forward by the Cypriot authorities.”

“But as mentioned in the program documentation, this is a decision to be made independently by the Cypriot central bank,” he said. “And it’s not any demand from the troika or the eurogroup.”

As Cyprus is the official template per DieselBOOM, next up for Draghi/Goldman and the ECB/IMF is the combined 5,550 tons of physical gold reserves via Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain alone:

1	United States	8,133.5	76%
2	Germany	3,391.3	73%
3	International Monetary Fund	2,814.0	N.A.
4	Italy	2,451.8	72%
5	France	2,435.4	71%
6	China	1,054.1	2%
7	Switzerland	1,040.1	11%
8	Russia	957.8	9%
9	Japan	765.2	3%
10	Netherlands	612.5	60%
11	India	557.7	10%
12	European Central Bank	502.1	33%
13	Taiwan	423.6	6%
14	Portugal	382.5	90%
15	Venezuela	365.8	75%
16	Turkey	359.6	16%
17	Saudi Arabia	322.9	3%
18	United Kingdom	310.3	16%
19	Lebanon	286.8	29%
20	Spain	281.6	30%

Check out these similar articles:

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3. THE RAPE OF CYPRUS & THE EURO ZONE: Harley Schlanger
4. A Letter from Cyprus: Economy Shutting Down, Going CASH ONLY!
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