By Claudia Carpenter April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Gold is benefiting as investors seek an alternative to bonds after European governments unveiled a plan to halt Greece’s fiscal crisis, said Philip Klapwijk, executive chairman of research company GFMS Ltd. Gold may rise to $1,300 an ounce later this year or next year, supported by increased investor demand, Klapwijk told a precious metals meeting in London today. Investor demand exceeded jewelry usage last year for the first time since 1980, he said. “The only real solution is to let Greece go bust,” Klapwijk said in an interview at the conference. European governments offered Greece a rescue package worth as much as 45 billion euros ($61 billion) at below-market interest rates. Gold for immediate delivery was at $1,163.70 an ounce at 10 a.m. in London. “A bailout means someone else is taking the risk,” Klapwijk said. “It means Germany will look less good” and lead investors to question government finances and their debt, he said. Investment demand for gold accounted for 44 percent of consumption last year, and will probably grow again this year, Klapwijk said. Jewelry accounted for 42 percent of demand last year, he said. “Investors are focused very much on deterioration in credit quality” of governments, the GFMS executive said. That focus on European governments “at some point” will shift to the U.S. “given its fiscal position is at least as bad as some of the European countries,” he said. Government and other “official sector” gold sales may “blip up” this year after falling to about 1 percent of gold supply last year, he said. The International Monetary Fund still has 191 metric tons of gold for sale that will probably be sold on the open market, he said.

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