Loading ...Germany to bring half its gold back by 2020
After decades of storing the majority of its gold reserves overseas, Germany has decided to speed up efforts to bring its bullion back home, announcing Monday it plans to repatriate at least half of the country’s gold by 2020.
According to the Bundesbank, the country’s central bank, there currently are about 1,400 tons or 41.5% of Germany’s gold reserves sitting at its vaults in Frankfurt, RT.com reports.
Germany began building most of its gold holdings in the 1950s, when trade surpluses were exchanged for gold under the Bretton Woods system that linked the US dollar to the precious metal. That led to a build-up of gold in vaults overseas, especially in New York, under the Federal Reserve.
During the Cold War the Bundesbank wanted to keep its gold in the west in case of an invasion from the Soviet Union.
But since 2013, it has been repatriating its gold bars. So far it has brought around 366 tonnes of gold back to Frankfurt, roughly half of the total to be transferred, the Bundesbank said.
cont. http://www.mining.com/germany-to-bring-half-its-gold-back-by-2020/