Commodities
Home›Commodities›Precious Metals›France swaps $15B of gold out of US vaults as central…
France swaps $15B of gold out of US vaults as central banks add bullion
France’s central bank sold 129 metric tons of gold stored in New York and replaced it with higher-quality bullion held in Paris, while a World Gold Council survey points to inflation, rates, and geopolitics as key drivers of central bank demand.
France has pulled about $15 billion worth of gold from US vaults, a move that is also raising expectations that other European countries may follow, as central banks continue to buy and reposition bullion. According to Yahoo Finance, France’s central bank carried out the transaction by starting in mid-2025, when it sold gold stored in New York and replaced it with newer, higher-quality bullion stored in Paris.
JPMorgan still expects gold to reach $5,000 per ounce by Q4, and the article frames France’s action as part of a broader reserve management shift rather than a one-off. It notes that France did not cut its total gold holdings, instead swapping older bars for bullion that is easier to trade globally.
The piece cites the World Gold Council’s 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves survey, which found that 89% of reserve managers expect official gold holdings to rise over the next 12 months, and 45% expect their own institution’s gold reserves to increase. It also says the biggest drivers of demand are concerns about inflation, interest rates, and geopolitical instability, with potential knock-on effects for the dollar and markets if the trend accelerates.
France’s then-governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said the move was not motivated by politics, and the article adds that the bank chose to purchase European bullion for storage in Paris rather than replacing the US-held gold overseas.
Latest closeGold $3,981.40 ▼1.6%