Libya has declared gold reserves worth more than $6 billion
The reserves are substantial, ranking in the global top 25, according International Monetary Fund (IMF) data. They could potentially be used to finance Colonel Gaddafi's government at a time when it is subject to international financial sanctions. It might be possible to transport the gold to other African countries and sell it.
The IMF data show Libya's reserves to be 4.6 million ounces, a figure of nearly 144 tonnes. At current market prices the value is over $6bn. There are twenty countries with larger gold reserves. But, with the exception of Lebanon, they are all much richer or much larger in population. Britain for example has twice as much gold, but ten times the population and an economy more than 30 times the size. A closer comparison is Algeria, which is, like Libya, a North African oil producer - it has 20% more gold reserves, but more than five times the population. So why does Libya have such a large holding of the precious metal?
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