Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi can tap gold reserves worth $7 billion, equivalent to a 10th of the size of his country’s economy, as he fights a civil war and resists air strikes from a western-led coalition.
Libya holds more bullion as a proportion of gross domestic product than any country except Lebanon, according to the London-based World Gold Council using January data from the International Monetary Fund. The value of gold is based on the March 25 close of $1,429.74 an ounce.
“He has all that gold? It’s probably in the central bank of Libya,” said Faraj Najem, a London-based Libyan writer and historian. “He has plenty of cash and if he’s got gold, it’s even better since he can pay mercenaries in a commodity that is easily exchangeable.”
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