The United States of America holds the largest gold reserves in the world, almost equal to the gold reserves of the next three largest gold reserves: Germany, Italy, and France. Russia, China and Switzerland close the top. Per capita gold reserves show a completely different rating.

What is the country’s gold reserve used for?

States are no longer required to print money solely based on the level of their gold reserves, but they still hold large amounts of the precious metal.

Gold performs several functions:

• Adds confidence: Gold is considered a true “trust deposit” that increases the economic stability of a country, especially during periods of financial uncertainty.

• Provides currency stability: Despite the declining relevance of the gold standard, some countries still consider gold reserves necessary to maintain currency stability.

• Portfolio diversification: The tangibility of gold allows countries to diversify their portfolios, reducing the risks associated with other assets

• Protection in case of economic crises: Gold retains its value during economic crises, making it a valuable asset during an economic crisis.

• Geopolitical strategy: Countries such as Russia and China, the United States’ main geopolitical rivals, have been significant buyers of gold, using it as part of their strategic reserves.

For companies, gold is a commodity asset used in medicine, jewelry, and electronic equipment manufacturing. For many investors, both institutional and retail, gold is an excellent hedge against inflation or recession.

Where is the world’s largest gold deposit?

In the USA, in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It is known to contain the largest amount of gold in the world.

US gold reserves are 8,133.5 tons. This amount puts it in first place among the countries with the largest gold reserves.

Countries with the largest gold reserves in the world / per capita

Switzerland is the country with the largest gold reserves per capita: almost 120 grams of gold per capita. It is followed by Lebanon, Italy, Germany and Singapore at a long distance.

Romania ranks 32nd in the world in gold reserves per capita with approximately 5.7 grams per capita, compared with Slovakia and Bulgaria.

Below the country with a gold reserve of more than 10 grams per capita

Countries with the largest reserves of gold

The United States of America has 8,133.46 tons of gold in its reserves. At the height of the Bretton Woods system, when the US offered to store and protect other countries’ gold in exchange for dollars, 90% to 95% of all the world’s gold reserves were in US vaults.

Germany: 3352.65 tons. Germany keeps its gold reserves at the Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt am Main, at the New York branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, and at the Bank of England in London.

Italy: 2,451.84 tons. The crisis in the eurozone led some to call on the Italian government to sell some of its gold reserves to raise funds, but the project never materialized

France: 2,436.97 tons.

Where is the world’s largest gold reserve stored?

In the USA, in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It is known to contain the largest amount of gold in the world.

Why does Romania keep some gold in the Bank of England?

“Since many people believe that there is something unclean here, why does the BNR keep gold in London. Well, gold is part of our international reserve. It is an international reserve. It is not an internal reserve. All the country’s international reserve is stored outside the borders, that’s why it is called an international reserve. We do not keep 32 billion euros, 37 billion dollars equivalent, in the country. If we kept them in the country, they would have absolutely no value. It would not ensure stability. We keep accounts abroad. This is how it is done,” said the governor of the BNR in specialty.

About the treasury of Romania in Moscow

• “In December 1916 and July 1917, two shipments of gold are known to have gone to Moscow, an allied country, where 91.5 tons of pure gold were stored. It turned into pure gold, and its quantity is as follows. Therefore, the amount of our gold in Moscow is definitely 91.5 tons of pure gold,” said Mugur Iserescu.

At the end of the war, the BNR had only 1.8 kg of 143 tons of pure gold in the country, which was one of the reasons for suspending the convertibility of the lei in 1917.

The governor of the BNR said that after 1930, the gold reserve of the central bank continuously increased until 1944, when it reached a historical maximum of 244 tons of gold, of which 192 tons were in the country and 51.7 tons abroad.

According to him, the country’s gold reserves caused serious concerns during the Second World War, when they were hidden first in Sinai and then in Tisman.

“It is interesting that part of the gold went to pay for the sanctions stipulated by the Paris Peace Treaty”

• “The end of World War II marked a disastrous decade for the gold stock. It dropped from 240 tons, the highest we’ve ever had, to 51 tons in 1954. I also investigated, I was very interested, as I said, what happened and we were surprised to find that for the period ’47 -’52 the outflow of gold was not accounted for in the balance sheet of the Bank of the People’s Republic Banca de State, in order to preserve the secrecy of the transaction, the governor also said

• The gold was also used for the following purposes: more than 100 tons were spent, so to speak; import of grain during the drought of 1945-1946; then the presence of the Red Army. Here the principle of Peter Groza appeared, he said, he proclaimed: it is better to give up gold than to starve the people and die of hunger, he said. How was this slogan implemented? Guaranteeing the import of grain with a gold reserve.

• So, first of all, it was imported from the Soviet Union, it was secured by gold, and when it was paid, we couldn’t give the necessary money… when it was paid, he said, “The country no longer had the resources to pay for import” and the collateral gold was lost. In fact, it was used to pay for imported wheat and grains,” explained Mugur Iserescu.

He stated that the second purpose for which the gold was spent was the purchase of weapons under pressure from the Soviet Union. Weapons were also bought from Czechoslovakia. “It is interesting that part of the gold was used to pay for the sanctions provided for in the Paris Peace Treaty.”

Gold was also used to pay for licenses from the West for modern technologies needed for industrialization that began in the 1950s.

From 1955 to 1989 there was a period of relative stability. The maximum own production was at most 4-5 tons per year. In 1969, it again reached 100 tons of gold, and then, in 1971, 115 tons of gold. In 1972, Romania became a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and paid 25% of its contribution to the IMF in gold. Later there was an increase in the reserve created at the expense of domestic production, but in the 80s the country decided to pay off the external debt in advance. Thus, in 1988, 80 tons of gold were sold to repay the foreign debt.