SOVIET GOLD SALES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01443R000200040007-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 1998
• Sequence Number: 7
• Content Type: SPEECH

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SOVIET GOLD SALES
Vishinsky -- Speech at LT. N.
-- Denounced U. S. for blocking increase
in price of gold - thus hurting U.K.,
Australia, Canada and especially South
Africa.
Speech preceded by Izvestia article 15 October
-- described Anglo-American
contradictions over gold prices - U. K.
selling gold to U. S. at archaic, 20 -year -
old gold price of $35 an ounce, buying
commodities from U. S. at current
inflated prices.
- - sympathized with U. K. efforts to
raise the official U. S. price as effort
to increase purchasing power in U. S.
market.
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-- denounced International Monetary
Fund for blocking rise in gold price,
charging this is U. S. exploitation of
its allies.
-- predicted U. S. would raise its gold
price, possibly because South Africa
has linked uranium production to U. S.
gold prices.
Soviet Union would obviously benefit in
purchasing power in Western markets from
any rise in price of gold
-- while Soviet gold sales so far this
year amount to $108. 6 million, not
much above sales in 1950 ($85. 3 million)
and 1952 ($77. 3 million) and below 1951
sales of $155. 3 million, it is significant
that 80% of the 1953 sales have been made
since August.
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- - If this rate of shipment is continued,
it will represent a significant departure
from previous practice and will result
in Soviet accumulation of foreign
exchange balances.
Soviet gold exports since August - and an
additional export this year of silver
( $17 million) & platinum ($7. 5 million) - seem
to be closely tied to a concurrent program
of increasing imports of capital goods and
consumer products for which hard currency
and sterling =needed.
M
--Nikoyan, Soviet Minister of Trade,
declared in October that the Soviet
Union planned to import 4 billion rubles
worth of consumer goods - 1/3 of this
( 1 billion 330 million rubles) from
outside the orbit.
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-- 1953 shipments so far at the
artificially low rate of 4 rubles to the
dollar, would amount to 532 million
rubles - less than half of planned
consumer goods imports.
There has been a lot of talk that these Soviet
gold sales are depressing world gold prices.
-- Gold prices have been steadily
declining since 1949. They have dropped
5% (from $37 to $35 an ounce) since
late summer when Soviet gold began to
enter the market in quantity.
-- There are other reasons for the decline
in gold price -
-- There has been a decline in
speculation in light of U. S. Treasury
intent to stand by the $35 an ounce
price.
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-- More non-Orbit gold is entering
world markets with removal of
various restrictions.
-- Improved economic situations
in Western Europe and decrease
fear of early war has reduced
incentive to gold hoarding.
The sale of gold by the USSR would not
afford any significant expansion in the level
of supply of consumer goods in the Soviet
Union.
-- The sale of the entire Soviet gold
stock, estimated at
3-C leas TtAAA S
$* billion, would amount tom
of the planned consumption of consumer
goods in 1953 -- (450 billion ~' or
$113 billion at 4:1).
i
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Gold sales abroad and the import of consumer
goods seems to be a temporary expedient to
close the gap between promise and performance
until the Soviet economy can increase the
consumer goods production. 0lt Yvt i n t M LWh
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