LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank confirmed on Friday that a new five-year Central Bank Gold Agreement had been signed to replace the existing pact, which expires in late September.
For a story, click on [ID:nL798799]
Gold sales under the existing CBGA have totalled only 1,866.8 tonnes so far, according to figures released by the World Gold Council, some 25 percent below the 2,500-tonne sales ceiling.
Below is a history of the CBGA.
* The original CBGA was signed in 1999 by the central banks of Germany, Great Britain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the European Central Bank.
* The pact, which was aimed at bringing stability to gold prices by guaranteeing signatories would not flood the market with bullion, limited their gold sales to 400 tonnes a year.
* The signatories also agreed not to expand their gold leasings and their use of gold futures and options over the five-year period of the pact.
* Greece replaced Britain in the second CBGA, signed in 2004. The terms of the second agreement were similar to the first, but the sales ceiling was raised to 500 tonnes per year.
* Slovenia joined the agreement in December 2006 and Cyprus and Malta in January 2008, just following their adoption of the euro. Slovakia joined in January 2009.
* Total sales under the first CBGA met the allowed ceiling of 2,000 tonnes. Signatories sold 400 tonnes of gold in the first year of the pact, 404 tonnes in the second, 393 tonnes in the third, 418 tonnes in fourth and 385 tonnes in the fifth.
* Sales in the first year of the second agreement almost met the maximum sales threshold, at 497.2 tonnes. Sales eased to 395.8 tonnes in 2005-06, the second year of the pact, but rebounded to 475.8 tonnes in the third year.
* Since then they have declined each year, with sales in the final year of the pact currently at only 140 tonnes. Total sales under the second CBGA have reached only 1,866.8 tonnes.
* According to figures released by the World Gold Council at the end of June, the current signatories of the CBGA collectively hold 11,991.6 tonnes.
* The largest gold holders within the current CBGA are Germany, with 3,412.6 tonnes, Italy, with 2,451.8 tonnes, and France, with 2,450.7 tonnes. The smallest are Slovenia, which has 3.2 tonnes, Luxembourg, with 2.3 tonnes, and Malta, which has just 0.5 tonnes.
Source: World Gold Council.
(Compiled by Jan Harvey; Editing by Sue Thomas)