Frankfurt, Oct 16: The German Central Bank wants to sell 400 to 600 tonnes of gold between 2004 and 2009 to raise up to four billion Euros for financial market investments, the newspaper Boersen Zeitung said. The Bundesbank, which agreed in a 1999 international accord not to touch its gold reserves until 2004, wants to manage the proceeds without having to refer to the government, the financial daily said.
Profits from the placements could earn up to 500 million Euros by 2009, it added.
Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke declined to comment on the details, telling Boersen Zeitung only that nothing had been decided concerning possible revenues from the investments.

He added that there was no consensus among the bank's board to provide the government with funds to reduce its debt.
In January, transport minister Manfred Stolpe had suggested a fund be set up to aid struggling municipalities, proposing that it be fed by the Bundesbank, which with 3,340 tonnes of gold deposits is the second largest official holder of gold in the world. Bureau Report