WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday announced it will begin phased open-market sales of the remaining 191.3 tonnes of gold under a program launched last year to raise new resources for lending. To avoid disruptions of the gold market, the IMF said the open-market sales "will be conducted in a phased manner over time." The Fund announced last year it would sell a total of 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock, to diversify its sources of income and increase low-cost lending to poor countries. Until now the gold has been made available to central banks. India, Mauritius and Sri Lanka have been purchasers. The price of gold has increased by 20 percent over the past two years. The IMF said central banks could continue to buy some of the gold, which would reduce the amount of gold to be sold on the market. "The initiation of on-market sales does not preclude further off-market gold sales directly to interested central banks or other official holders," the IMF said in a statement.
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