Europe's central banks said today they had reached a new deal that raises their limits on annual gold sales to cap total sales at 500 metric tonnes per year for the next five years.
The new accord will start in September 2004, replacing the 1999 gold agreement that expires on that date and had capped gold sales at 400 tonnes per year, the central banks said.
Britain said it would not take part in the new programme because Britain did not intend to sell any gold during the period covered by the deal.
The agreement was announced on the sidelines of the Group of 10 meeting of central bankers from top industrialised nations and emerging markets.
The 1999 agreement, struck when gold was sinking sharply as the precious metal lost allure during the Internet and new economy era, helped stabilise the price of gold.
Before the new deal was struck, the Bundesbank, the world's second-largest holder of central bank gold, had said it had requested an option to sell 600 tonnes.