Austria to repatriate around 140 tns of gold reserves from BoE

Otmane El Rhazi from The Bullion Desk.

The Austrian central bank plans to repatriate around 140 tonnes of its official gold reserves from the Bank of England, it said.

By 2020, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) would like to hold 50 percent of its official reserves of 280 tonnes in Austria, 30 percent in London and 20 percent in Switzerland.

Currently, the OeNB holds 80 percent of its reserves at the BoE, equal to around 224 tonnes and worth around $8.5 billion. It holds 17 percent in Austria and three percent in Switzerland.

The move will see around $5.4 billion or around 140 tonnes moving from vaults in London to Austria over the next few years.

“Starting from mid-2015, the new storage policy will be gradually implemented in keeping with security and logistical requirements,” the bank said in a statement. “The OeNB will regularly report on the progress in its upcoming annual reports.”

Austria is the 21st largest holder of gold in the world, holding 44.4 percent of its foreign exchange reserves in gold.

The 2020 plan is similar to plans announced by Germany’s Bundesbank, which is gradually repatriating its gold from the US – it intends to hold at least 50 percent of its 3,384 tonnes of the metal on German soil.

 

(Editing by Mark Shaw)

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