HAS ALL OUR GOLD STOLEN BY DAIM ?

> Data from the International Monetary Fund show Malaysian gold > reserves halved since July to total 1.18 million > ounces at the end of October.

> > The data, in the December edition of IMF's monthly > International Financial Statistics, show reserves were > 2.34 million ounces in June and July, but 1.17 million > in August.

> > The IMF gives no explanations for the figures in its > IFS publication, which is a dense tome of data on > reserves, government finances and economic and > monetary indicators.

> > The figures showed countries held a total of 947.25 > million ounces of gold in their reserves at the end of > September -- the last month for which global data were > available -- little changed from end-March data of > 947.44 million but below the December 1998 figure of > 966.26 million.

> > Country gold reserves totaled 886.69 million ounces at > the end of 1997, the IMF data showed.