INTERVIEW-IMF confirms plan to sell 403 tonnes gold

By Jan Harvey

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said it does not intend to alter plans to sell just over 400 tonnes of gold to fund changes to its financing base, an IMF spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

A recent surge in IMF lending to countries facing balance of payments crises related to the global economic slowdown and financial turmoil has led analysts to question whether the Washington-based institution will proceed with the plan. [ID:nN19466275]

But a spokeswoman for the IMF -- the third largest official holder of gold -- said the sale would still go ahead.

"There are no plans to change the proposal for a new income model," she said.

"The package of IMF governance reforms, including gold sales, was submitted to the U.S. Congress last November, but will need to be reintroduced as a formality," the IMF spokeswoman said. "The timeline will depend on the Congress' schedule."

The IMF agreed in May last year to create an endowment with the profits from the proposed sale of the gold as part of a broader makeover of the IMF's financial structure and investment strategy.

Such a move, however, depends on approval by member countries' legislatures, including the U.S. Congress. With a change of administration in Washington and a focus in the United States on the economic turmoil, the issue of gold sales and more general IMF reform has been pushed to the backburner.