Bundesbank pulls 300 tons of Gold from New York – t-online.de

“Get our Gold home!” – the Bundesbank seems to have the reputation of concerned citizens and critical politicians answered. Faster than originally planned, the vaults of the Central Bank to fill up in Frankfurt with the billions of treasure. The reasons for the hurry to stay hidden.

The Bundesbank had announced in 2013 that by 2020, half of your gold should be stored in its own vaults in Frankfurt am Main. Should gradually be shifted to 300 tonnes of Gold from New York and 374 tons from Paris, where the treasure for decades mostly has been stored.

each year brought hundreds of bars on a top-secret routes across the Atlantic, and the Rhine to Germany. 216 tonnes of Gold alone in the last year. Thus, 1619 tons, or 47.9 percent of the German noble store now metal in the home. In the case of a gold price from 1160 Euro per ounce (31.1 g) or 37.305 Euro per Kilo, a current value of a good 60 billion euros in Germany.<, this results in/p>

Gold fetched much faster home

After public pressure, the Bundesbank had issued four years ago, the goal, by the end of 2020, at least half of the German gold reserves in its own vaults in Germany store. However, the retrieval goes much faster than planned. The relocation from the USA was already completed last September.

Now, follow a few tons from Paris. “More than three years prior to the date the relocation is implemented this year,” says Bundesbank Board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele. The original schedule for generously been calculated. Further relocations to 2017 are planned Thiele said.

The Transport and the remelting of some of the bars have so far cost 6.9 million euros. Estimated to 500,000 euros will be added this year.

Gold in the West is safer

That the Gold belongs to the German state and the Bundesbank administers, were kept a long time abroad, has historical reasons: Starting in mid-1951 the Bank deutscher Länder established the predecessor of the Bundesbank’s gold reserves, in the economic boom years after the Second world war, the German gold treasure grew rapidly.

Because of the thriving Export, the Federal Republic of Germany, many of the dollars that were exchanged for the American Central Bank against Gold assets. “The Gold is there, it was never brought there,” explained Thiele. During the Cold war, it was quite intentional, to keep German Gold “to the West of the Rhine,” and as far as possible outside the country’s borders – as a possible buffer for a currency crisis.

skeptics doubt the presence of the gold

gnawed But critical questions to conspiracy theories on the shiny Image. The gold treasure is – after all, with more than 270,000 bars, the second largest in the world – abroad safe? The Gold is still there? In the fall of 2012, the Federal court of auditors complained that the Bundesbank had taken the gold reserves beyond the country’s borders never “physically and for authenticity and weight” checked.

Since then, the Bundesbank relies on transparency: 2,400 pages, the Central Bank lists for the end of 2015, accessible to the public every single ingot. And in order to convince the last doubters, there is always Gold to touch in the neighbouring money Museum.

“Operation gold finger” was unsuccessful

politicians have always had a lot of ideas how the Gold “silver” would be – either for the financing of pensions, aid for the victims of the Elbe flood of 2002 or a system change in health care. The headlines in 1997, the then Federal Minister of Finance Theo Waigel (CSU), provided with its “Operation gold finger”: Germany’s Supreme Treasurer wanted to bring the Bundesbank to evaluate their Gold and foreign exchange reserves higher, and resulting profits be distributed to the Confederation.

But all of the desires were unsuccessful. About three tons of Gold per year, the Federal Minister of Finance gets to the Minting of collector coins. Otherwise, the Bundesbank, with Argus eyes watching over the billions of treasure – now also with direct access in the safe. He currently has an overall value of over 120 billion euros – a 68 percent of the German currency reserves.

A part of the treasure, however, still remains in New York and London. The United States is the largest economy in the world and London is the largest trading centre for Gold, explains Thiele.

Ensure that the precious metal since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Bundesbank does not. There is no need and no discussion to change the concept, stressing the Central Bank’s Board of Directors. “We work together with confidence with the Fed.”