Is 50% of Western Central Bank Gold gone?
By GCRU Gold News on Sunday, February 19 2017, 01:06 - Permalink
Germany has recently pretended that they are totally open about their gold dealings, but what have they actually told the world?
In 2013 Germany announced a plan to repatriate 674 tons of gold from the US and France. In the first year, they only received 37 tons back and were told that they would have the rest in 2020. We have now been informed that the programme has been accelerated. Out of the 3,381 tons that Germany owns, 51% or 1,713 tons will be in Germany by the end of 2017. Over 49% of the German gold will remain abroad with 1,236 tons still in New York and 432 tons in London.
You wonder why it needs to take five years to repatriate 674 tons. Listening to interviews with the chiefs of the Deutsche Bundesbank, they explained what a major logistical exercise it has been. According to the Bundesbank, they have had major problems with transport, insurance, security etc. If we take Switzerland as an example, we both receive and export over 2,000 tons of gold annually. And that excludes major transfers between banks and to private vaults. The same happens in countries like the UK, China, India and the US. So around the world, many 1,000s of tons of gold are shipped annually without any logistical problem. You wonder then why the normally very efficient Germans have problems to ship 674 tons over five years?
The reason is of course that the gold wasn’t available because it had been leased or maybe even sold. This is confirmed by comments that the bars received in return were not the same as the original ones.
But the big question is now if the 1,668 tons that remain in the US and France actually exist? If they do, why not bring them back to Germany? Originally the reason for holding gold outside of Germany was the cold war. But it would be hard to explain how gold in the UK and France avoided the cold war. Currently there is no cold war so that is not a valid reason. We know of course why the gold originally was held in New York and London because that is where the majority of the gold trading takes place.