Venezuela has defaulted on a gold swap agreement valued at $750 million with Deutsche Bank AG, prompting the lender to take control of the precious metal which was used as collateral and close out the contract, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Philippines is joining a slew of central banks that are increasing gold holdings in foreign reserves.

Sales to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas could reach almost 1 million fine troy ounces a year from the current 20,000 to 30,000 ounces as a new law that exempts taxes on the monetary authority’s bullion purchases from small-scale miners takes effect, according to Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo.

India’s central bank is likely to join counterparts in Russia and China scooping up gold this year, adding to its record holdings and lending support to worldwide bullion demand as top economies diversify their reserves.

Gold was considered as a reserve of the third category for all banks, from central to commercial ones, where the reserves were, first of all, in dollars and bonds of the US. The norms of Basel III demand an increase, first of all, in monetary reserves. This impeded the volumes of monetary resources of banks that could be used to carry out expansion, but it was a compulsory measure for saving the stability of a world banking system that showed to be insufficient in a crisis.

Italy’s ruling populists pushed ahead this week with efforts to seize control of the central bank and its gold reserves, stepping up their confrontation with a symbol of the country’s establishment.

But in what was a huge missed opportunity for the Australian politicians to actual ask some tough and probing questions about the Australian gold reserves stored abroad (as was detailed in the RT article), the Australian Standing Committee on Economics gave the RBA governor and deputy governor an easy ride, let them off the hook, and incredibly, could not come up with even one decent question. Despite this, the RBA bosses squirmed and paused, and the whole session degenerated into an at times hilarious farcical chatter reminiscent of a bunch of Aussie mates having a Friday evening drink.

For the commentary, RT actually asked me quite a few interesting questions on both the Australian gold and other related gold topics. Since both the extended questions and the answers might be of interest to readers, we have decided to publish below the full set of questions and answers in Q&A format, which are as follows:

It would be more productive in the first instance for Italian politicians to push for a full physical independent audit of all the Italian gold, both the 1200 tonnes of gold which is said to be stored under the Bank’s headquarter’s in Rome, as well as the ‘other half’ of the gold, which the Bank of Italy claims is mostly stored at the Federal Reserve vaults in New York (FRBNY), but which no one, including Italian politicians has ever seen.

This should also include publication of a full ‘weight list’ of all the Italian gold, including every refiner serial number of every gold bar claimed to be held. Because if you don’t have the gold, then you can’t sell it. And the first proof that you have the gold is a full independent physical audit.

President Nicolas Maduro blew through more than 40 percent of Venezuela’s gold reserves last year in a desperate bid to fund government programs and pay millions to bondholders.

The government sold a total of 73 tons of gold to two firms in the United Arab Emirates and another in Turkey, opposition lawmaker Carlos Paparoni told reporters in Caracas on Wednesday. That drained reserves to about 110 tons at the end of last year from 184 tons, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who corroborated Paparoni’s data.

Central banks bought last year the most #gold in 47 years, with 651.5 tonnes (74% higher y-o-y). This is the highest level of annual net purchases since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971