Russian Central Bank To Offer Gold-Backed Loans (Or Why The Spam-Standard Is Coming To An End)

Russian Central Bank To Offer Gold-Backed Loans (Or Why The Spam-Standard Is Coming To An End) (ZeroHedge, Aug 26, 2011):

The spam standard is ending. In news that is likely about to throw the mouth-foaming Keynesians in for a perpetual loop, the Russian Central Bank has quietly announced the sneakiest gold confiscation ploy in history. Reuters reports: “Russia’s central bank will offer gold-backed loans for up to 90 days at an interest rate of 7 percent, it said in a statement on Friday, expanding its lending facilities for dealing with any future liquidity crunch in the banking system.” So let’s get this straight: Russia, which has been dumping US bonds with unseen vigor, and which has been buying gold at a record pace, has just offered its citizen the once in a lifetime opportunity to trade in their hard assets for paper in an imploding fiat system, but with promises to make 7% worthless percent. Oh, and when the “liquidity crunch in the banking system” goes away and one hopes to reclaim title to their gold, one will just find that the title certificate was signed by one Linda Greenova, and said title is perpetually lost in Siberian limbo. And while one waits to reclaim said title from robosigning transgressor #1, Bank of USSR, those heavily armed gentlemen in camouflage attire who just broke into your apartment will not wait to reclaim what now rightfully belongs to mother Russia.

More:

The gold-backed lending was approved by the board of directors at a meeting on Friday. The rate on the facility is in line with the central bank’s Lombard rate on borrowing secured against high-quality bonds.

“This measure fits the central bank’s policy of developing refinancing instruments within the banking system. The facility will be unlikely in strong demand, only at times of liquidity crunches,” said Maxim Oreshkin, chief economist at Credit Agricole in Moscow.

Levels of rouble liquidity remain at comfortable levels for now, with the overnight interbank rate having hovered within 3-4 percent range since early 2010 compared to more than 10 percent seen during the crisis of 2008-2009.

Next up: the LBMA uses Leonardo DiCaprio to incept the same idea in the brain of the Chairman, who then tells Bill Dudley to hand out a free iPad with a lifetime supply of semi-edible apps for anyone who pledges their gold to the Fed. First on a voluntary basis. Then, not.

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