Vatican bank profits down by 83.7 mln

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 8 - The Vatican bank on Tuesday posted net profits of 2.9 million euros in 2013, down from 86.6 million euros the previous fiscal year.
    The bank known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) said the 83.7-million-euro drop was due to "extraordinary expenses, adjustments to the value of investment funds managed by third parties, and a drop in the price of gold".
    However those losses were made up by the first semester this year: results based on preliminary data showed net profits of 57.4 million euros (against 2.9 million euros in 2013). Also in 2013, IOR contributed 54 million euros to the budget of the Holy See, down from 54.7 million in 2012.
    The money goes to charity and to the pope's "evangelical activities", the bank said.
    Pope Francis has created a commission to oversee the troubled financial institution in an effort to make it more ethical and transparent.
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