Gold glitters as mistrust spreads
Calls for European governments to repatriate the bullion they store in the US are a sign of something bigger
A DECADE ago, I asked officials at the New York Federal Reserve if I could peek at their gold reserves. They refused point blank.
The reason? Fed officials have long taken pride in having the world’s biggest gold vault, dug 80 feet down into Manhattan’s bedrock. But they prefer to keep it discreet, partly because many of the vault’s 507,000 bars belong to countries such as Germany and Italy. Silence was literally golden.
Now, however, a discordant note has been sounded. In recent weeks, politicians in Germany and Italy have demanded the repatriation of their gold bars, worth an estimated US$245 billion.
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
