Germany finishes bringing gold reserves back from France

BERLIN – Germany’s central bank says it’s completed a plan to repatriate gold reserves it stashed abroad during the Cold War three years ahead of schedule.

The Bundesbank said Wednesday that 91 metric tons (100.3 tons) of gold had been returned from Paris.

The plan, initially expected to take until 2020, involved returning 374 tons of gold from Paris, and 300 tons from New York.

Frankfurt now holds just over half of Germany’s 3,378 tons of reserve gold, with 36.6 per cent in New York and 12.8 per cent in London.

During the Cold War, West Germany kept most of its gold abroad for fear it could fall into the hands of the Soviets if they invaded.

It was also meant to keep it close to London, Paris and New York, where gold’s traded.