Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved gold sales of 403.3 metric tons valued at about $13 billion and pledged to avoid disrupting the market with the transactions.

The IMF said it would “stand ready to sell gold directly to central banks.” The sales could also be conducted in the open market in a “phased manner” over time, the Washington- based lender said in an e-mailed statement today.

“These sales will be conducted in a responsible and transparent manner that avoids disruption of the gold market,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in the statement.

The IMF board last year endorsed the quantity to be sold, which accounts for one-eighth of the IMF’s total gold stockpile, as part of a plan to shore up its finances. The sale will also increase the agency’s ability to lend at reduced rates to low- income countries. The IMF is the world’s third-largest holder of gold reserves.

Gold futures for December delivery fell $3.20, or 0.3 percent, to $1,010.30 an ounce today on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.

The U.S. Congress in June approved legislation that permits the American representatives at the IMF to agree to the sale.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 18, 2009 17:29 EDT