Austria's central bank announced on Thursday it would repatriate a large part of its gold reserves currently stored in Britain, after auditors warned of the risk of bulk storing in a foreign country.

Until now the Austrian National Bank has kept 80 percent of its 280 tonnes of gold worth around 8.6 million euros ($9.3 million) in London.

But by 2020, the Bank of England's stock of the precious metal will be reduced to 30 percent, while Austria will hold 50 percent and Switzerland 20 percent.