ECB’s Wellink welcomes China gold purchases
AMSTERDAM, April 28 (Reuters) - European Central Bank Governing Council member Nout Wellink welcomed China’s move to buy gold, but said the ECB plans to renew a central bank agreement that limits its gold sales to the open market.
China revealed on Friday it had secretly raised its gold reserves by three-quarters since 2003, increasing its holdings to 1,054 tonnes and confirming years of speculation it had been buying.
"That China has bought gold doesn’t surprise me," Wellink said on Tuesday. "This is a positive development and I appreciate the move."
Asked whether the ECB had been approached for sales of gold to China, Wellink said the ECB plans to renew for a five-year period its commitment to the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), under which European central banks agree to limit their gold sales onto the open market.
(Reporting by Reed Stevenson, writing by Aaron Gray-Block)
