The Portuguese Run Out Of Gold To Sell
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
08/16/2012
Business has gone from great to terrible in a matter of months. The sad truth is that most of my clients have already sold all of their gold rings,” is anecdotal evidence of a growing trend that Bloomberg reports in Portugal. Historically the home of Europe’s biggest relative gold reserves, cash-for-gold shops rose 29% in 2011 (average 2 store openings per day) – but now some are closing. Portugal’s gold exports increased by more than five times to 519.4 million euros last year from 102.1 million euros in 2009, according to data published on the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute’s website.
As a country, Portugal traditionally has guarded that gold. The central bank holds more gold relative to the size of the country’s economy than any euro country, mostly accumulated during former dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar’s 36 years in power, based on data compiled by the World Gold Council. The law prevents proceeds from selling any gold reserves from going toward the government’s budget.
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