The Turkish Treasury will issue two types of bonds to attract 2,200 tons of gold stashed under mattresses into the economy, which has a market value of around 300 billion Turkish Liras, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said.

The country's gold imports recorded a three-fold jump to USD 15.24 billion during the April-August period of the current fiscal, commerce ministry data showed.

Disclosures in the August statement of account published by the Bank for International Settlements indicate that during August the bank increased substantially its use of gold swaps.

An estimated 130 tonnes of new gold swaps were made last month, worth about $5.9 billion at the month-end gold price, and the total level of gold swaps at the end of August was close to 500 tonnes.

As this table shows, the use of gold swaps by the BIS fell considerably from 2013 to zero in March 2016. In the financial year ending in March 2017 a new year-end peak of 438 tonnes was reported.

COTs this week

A former trader at UBS Group AG was charged with conspiracy and fraud over his suspected role in manipulating the price of precious metals.

Andre Flotron, who worked at the bank in Switzerland and Stamford, Connecticut, is the second person publicly charged in the U.S. investigation into the fixing of gold, silver, platinum and palladium prices. Flotron, a Swiss citizen, was arrested while visiting his girlfriend in New Jersey. He was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, commodities fraud and spoofing. He faces as many as 25 years in prison on the most serious charge.

Gold, silver and platinum prices have been rebounding over the past six months for what appears to be one major reason: investors losing faith in the Federal Reserve (Fed) to continue raising interest rates in the current tightening cycle, as reflected in Fed Funds Futures.

COTs this week

Gold has pulled in traders like never before on its way to the highest price in a year. Volume on the Comex in New York, the largest bullion futures exchange, hit a record in August as North Korean tensions and a weaker dollar boosted demand for the metal. Some 6.55 million contracts worth almost $900 billion now changed hands last month, more than when Donald Trump was elected U.S. president or during substantial price spikes and slumps.

Silk Road demand of 256 tonnes during July - 13 tonnes under total world mine production.

Sales for August