They had a surplus, they saved the money they didn't splash it around, however selling gold for fiat is one of the most stupid things anyone could do.
Swapping gold for infrastructure is also a very dumb idea for this country, one can build the infrastructure with the right gov policies with fiat, you don't need real money to do it back then or at the moment.
You don't sell your Gold or your Bitcoin, thats how it is when you think straight. These assets sit on the bal;ance sheet and are valued in fiat, theres no need to sell them! Only the super dumb would sell it unless an economic terroist imo.
