Germany’s Central Bank shifts 50,000 gold bars held overseas amid Eurozone collapse fears
GERMANY’S central bank has moved £21.8billion (€23.6bn) worth of gold bars back to Frankfurt as the Eurozone continues to falter.
By TOM PARFITT
Express.co.ukWed, Aug 23, 2017
The Bundesbank today announced it has shipped the last of the gold it had been storing at France’s central bank, Banque de France.
The lot of 53,780 bars, each weighing 27.5lbs, will now be kept in vaults beneath the bank’s Frankfurt headquarters.
Should Germany face an economic emergency, the precious metal can be converted into pounds or dollars.
German officials moved the precious metal to Paris, London and New York during the Cold War over fears it could fall into Soviet hands.
The operation had expected to be completed in 2020, but was fast-tracked by three years.
The Bundesbank said each of the bars had been “thoroughly and exhaustively” tested on arrival in Frankfurt.
A spokesman for the central bank added: “No irregularities came to light with regard to the authenticity.”
The move now means over half of all Bundesbank gold is stored in its own vaults in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial hub.
It is believed that most of the rest, 1,236 tonnes, will remain in Federal Reserve Bank of New York indefinitely.
A smaller portion, 432 tonnes, will be held at the Bank of England in London.
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