As the price of gold soared to an all-time high, surpassing $5,000 per ounce (EUR 4,200), a senior official at the Bank of Lithuania acknowledged that the central bank could have profited from additional purchases but chose not to due to its long-term policy.
“Looking back, we definitely missed out. If we had bought more gold, we would have made money,” Antanas Miksys, senior portfolio manager at the Bank of Lithuania, told LRT RADIO on January 27. “We’ve had a stable amount of gold since the bank resumed its activities after Lithuania regained independence. This decision was made a long time ago and has not been changed so far.”
Miksys noted that the rising price had significantly increased the value of the bank’s holdings.
“It’s nice to see that gold is becoming more expensive. Less than a year ago, the value of our gold holdings was around EUR 500 million, and now it is around EUR 800 million. Of course, if we had bought gold a year ago, the bank would have become a little richer, but unfortunately we did not,” he said.
The Bank of Lithuania currently holds 5.8 tons of gold, stored in the Bank of England’s vaults in London.
The price of a troy ounce of gold on international markets reached unprecedented levels on Monday, exceeding $5,000 for the first time and continuing a steady upward trend. Over the past 12 months, the price has risen by about $2,000 (EUR 1,700). (LRT)