Germany to get back its gold, not trusting US,but not able to get all at once. Why transfer time till 2020?
Germany’s Bundesbank Repatriating Gold from the New York Federal Reserve
far, only countries that have a strained relationship with the US have resorted to gold repatriation. Now, Bundesbank will be seen as walking in Hugo Chavez’s footsteps.
If gold repatriation becomes a worldwide trend, it will be obvious that both the US and UK have lost their credibility as gold custodians.
Bundesbank confirms Germany's gold is in play
11:10a ET Monday, August 24, 2009
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, today confirmed that much of its gold is held outside the country at "trading centers" where the bank conducts "its gold activities."
The Bundesbank's statement, unsigned and issued by the bank's press office, came as an e-mailed reply to GATA consultant Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics in Toronto (http://www.kirbyanalytics.com/), who sought the Bundesbank's comment on international journalist Max Keiser's recent assertion that the Bundesbank had told him that most of Germany's gold is in the custody of the United States in New York:
Germany's Bundesbank brings gold reserves home
* Kept some reserves abroard for security in Cold War
* Plans to hold 50 pct of gold reserves in Frankfurt by 2020
* To transfer 300 tonnes from New York, 374 tonnes from Paris
* Holdings at Banque de France no longer needed due to euro
By Eva Kuehnen
FRANKFURT, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Bundesbank plans to bring home some of its gold reserves stored in the United States' and French central banks, bowing to government pressure to unwind a Cold War-era ploy that secured the national treasure.
Germany amassed gold reserves in the post-war era thanks to rapid economic expansion that saw growing exports to the United States, where its dollar claims were turned into gold under the Bretton Woods agreement that Germany joined in 1952.
The German Federal Court of Auditors, which oversees the government's financial management, called last October for an official inspection of the gold reserves stored at foreign central banks, because they have never been fully checked.
"To hold gold as a central bank creates confidence," Thiele said. "If I hold gold in my own vaults, I have to check it myself," he said, adding that "a complete shift is not appropriate."
Beginning this year, the Bundesbank plans to transfer 300 tonnes of gold from the Federal Reserve in New York and all of its gold stored at the Banque de France in Paris, 374 tonnes, to Frankfurt.
By 2020, it wants to hold half of the nearly 3,400 tonnes of gold valued at almost 138 billion euros - only the United States holds more - in Frankfurt, where it stores about a third of its reserves. The rest is kept at the Federal Reserve, the Banque de France and the Bank of England.
“With this new storage plan, the Bundesbank is focusing on the two primary functions of the gold reserves: to build trust and confidence domestically, and the ability to exchange gold for foreign currencies at gold trading centers abroad within a short space of time,” the Bundesbank said. It said the complete withdrawal of reserves from Paris reflects the fact that Germany no longer depends on France as a financial center to exchange gold because both nations use the euro.
Leading analysts predict Gold to increase 4 times to $5000:
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