With limited manufacturing capability, these often have to be additional commodities or commodity-based items. The demand for gold has increased steadily in recent years. The amount of incremental gold production the HIPCs are likely to add to global output is limited, and it is unlikely to cause any significant disturbance to the balance between supply and demand. But the effect on each individual country can be substantial. It is widely accepted that encouraging trade is normally the best way of helping a developing country.
Gold mining can have other benefits in addition to boosting export earnings.
It attracts inward investment, and creates jobs. In some cases, the existence of a significant gold mine can cause previously remote areas to be opened up, encouraging the development of transport links and other infrastructure and enabling the whole region to move away from a purely subsistence economy. Capital equipment is imported, skills are transferred to the local population, sound legal, accounting and banking systems and practices are developed. All these phenomena encourage economic stability and promote development. The sale by the IMF of part of its gold holdings would jeopardize all these highly desirable developments.