A waste of space

Since its independence, Lebanon has always been gold rich. In fact, during the prosperity years of the 1960s and early 1970s, the country was a net buyer of gold, increasing its gold reserves to a total of 9.22 million ounces today. Lebanon is considered to have the largest gold reserves among Arab countries and is ranked in the top ten countries and supra-nationals worldwide in terms of gold tonnage held. Indeed, with 286.8 tons of gold, Lebanon ranks 19th in the world behind countries such as the UK (with 311.3 tons, ranking 17th), Austria (307.5 tons, ranked 18th), Russia and India (14th and 15th respectively). The top countries in gold tonnage are the US in first place, Germany in second, the IMF in third, France in fourth, Italy in fifth and Switzerland in sixth. A hefty sum indeed At today’s prices (as at the 11th of May, 2006) of $707.2