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Germany gold: Central bank considers bringing home reserves Germany gold: Central bank to bring home some reserves
(35 minutes later)
Germany's central bank is considering bringing gold reserves worth 133bn euros ($177bn; £110bn) home from France, Britain and the US. Germany's central bank is to bring back almost 700 tonnes of gold reserves it keeps in New York and Paris.
By 2020, half of its gold bars will be in its vaults, the Bundesbank said. It currently keeps less than a third at home.
The bars were originally taken out of Germany as a precaution against an invasion from the Soviet Union.The bars were originally taken out of Germany as a precaution against an invasion from the Soviet Union.
They are currently being stored in vaults in London, New York and Paris. Central banks keep gold abroad so that it can be used to quickly buy foreign currency in times of crisis.
The German audit office has criticised the government for not keeping a proper track of the bars, said the BBC's Berlin correspondent Steve Evans. The Bundesbank will no longer keep any of its reserves in Paris, as both countries use the euro.
It will reduce the amount it holds in New York from 45% to 37% by the end of the decade.
No gold will be moved out of the Bank of England's vaults, however. It will still keep 13% of its total reserves in London, the German central bank said.
According to the BBC's Berlin correspondent, Stephen Evans, the German audit office has criticised the government for not keeping a proper track of the bars,
It has even suggested some of the bars may not have been checked to see if they are real, he added.It has even suggested some of the bars may not have been checked to see if they are real, he added.
All 450 tonnes of German gold in Paris are expected to be returned and some of the 1,500 tonnes with the Federal Reserve in America. The Bundesbank is expected to set out its plans later.
Many countries hold large reserves of gold as it seen as a good store of value and a good hedge against inflation.
It is common for central banks to store gold abroad in case it needs to buy foreign currency in a hurry in a time of crisis.
It is quicker to use gold stored at the New York Federal Reserve as collateral to buy US dollars than using gold stored at the Bundesbank, for example.