Industry group speaks at UN against IMF gold sales

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (Reuters) - Taking its case to the United Nations, the World Gold Council said the International Monetary Fund's proposals to sell off 10 percent of its gold would put scores of poor nations in Africa further in debt.

The industry's lobbying group told a news conference on Thursday that the IMF instead should consider alternative ways of raising money for debt relief, such as asking members for higher contributions or borrowing from private markets.

``It is cruelly ironic that the help being offered in fact does further damage to the already troubled economies of the recipients,'' said George Milling-Stanley, the trade association's director of analysis.

Similar arguments have been made by South Africa, the world's largest gold producer, ahead of a Friday IMF board meeting concerning the sales.

The IMF plans to sell up to 10 million ounces of its total gold holdings of 104 million ounces over several years to help relieve the debt of 41 of the world's poorest countries.

The news conference was sponsored by Ghana, the largest gold-producing nation on the IMF's list of ``Heavily Indebted Poor Countries'' eligible for a proposed debt-relief programme.

Milling-Stanley said that gold mining accounted for 5 to 40 percent of the exports in more than 30 countries on the list, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

IMF sales further would hurt the price of gold and offset the benefits, which he said would result in a loss of $150 million a year to the nations it was trying to help.

Although the IMF sales were relatively small, the fund's proposal sent a message to the market, which Milling-Stanley described as a ``deer caught in the headlight'' at the hint of sales by established institutions.

``The mere discussion of gold sales by the IMF has already cost the HIPCs (nations on the list) more than the (potential) debt relief,'' he said.

Milling-Stanley said the perception that ``gold prices can never rise again, which some people in the market have fallen prey to, is what opens the door for speculators to sell short.''

The IMF plan, which needs approval from the U.S. Congress, has met with increased opposition following Tuesday's sales by the Bank of England that drove gold down to a 20-year low of $256.80 a troy ounce.

Gold has slumped from $291 an ounce at the beginning of the year, losing around $35, or more than 10 percent, since the Bank of England gold sale plan was announced in early May.

Among those opposing the plan are U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Dick Armey, who has urged legislators to oppose the plan, which needs approval from 85 percent of the IMF's board. Since the United States has a 15-person vote at the fund, Congress effectively could veto it.