[Fwd: IMF debt relief and gold sales] (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Kyodo) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
expected to sell 5 to 10 million ounces of gold from its holdings to
finance a
U.S. scheme to alleviate the debt burden of African countries, U.S.
Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin said Wednesday.

''The IMF will do this in a way so as to minimize market impact,'' Rubin
told
reporters.

President Bill Clinton on Tuesday announced a plan to forgive 70 billion
dollars in debts owed by poor countries in Africa, and said that the IMF
should do its part to help finance the debt forgiveness by selling part of
its
gold holdings.

The announcement sparked a sell-off in the New York gold market the same
day,
prompting the benchmark April contract to plunge 3.70 dollars to 283.90
dollars per ounce, a level not seen since late January.

Rubin said Washington's Group of Seven (G-7) colleagues are positive about
the
proposal. ''I can't give you a definite answer but my impression is that
there
is a more positive view (among the G-7) toward doing so today than there
was
in the past.''

Earlier this week, French President Jacques Chirac also suggested that the
IMF
cash in part of its gold holdings to help finance the debt forgiveness.

The IMF is said to own about 103 million ounces of gold valued at about 29
billion dollars.