Is 50% of Western Central Bank Gold gone?

Jon Blogosphere, Economy, Gold, Market Commentary, Precious Metals

We have recently had some significant news about the sovereign gold market that makes the unclarity even more unclear. Central banks and the BIS in Basel go to great length to tell the world absolutely nothing about their gold dealings. All transactions are carried out covertly and no central bank ever has an official audit of their gold holdings. The last US audit was during Eisenhower’s days in the 1950’s. Ron Paul has been pushing for an audit but to no avail. Will Trump instigate an audit? Well, he might have the intention but when he finds out that a major part of the US 8,000 tons of gold is not there, it will all go quiet. There have been pressures for audits in France and Germany in later years but this has had no effect. No country wants to reveal that the gold isn’t there.
Germany takes 5 years to repatriate 647 tons of gold
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?

This post was published at GoldSwitzerland on February 18, 2017.