<\/p>\n
On September 2, 2026, the Dutch central bank made an announcement that sent shockwaves through global financial circles, as De Nederlandsche Bank DNB revealed that between March and August 2026 it had transferred approximately 86 tons of gold from its total reserves of 612.4 tons out of New York and Ottawa and moved it to London, with this transfer valued at roughly 120 billion dollars and DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen citing rising geopolitical uncertainty as the primary reason for the move, clarifying that the objective was to enhance the tradability of the gold because gold held in London is considered the most tradable gold in the world and in times of crisis can be used immediately compared to gold stored on another continent, while DNB explained that they physically transferred only 27 tons of gold and sold the remaining gold in the United States while simultaneously purchasing it in London, a strategy previously adopted by France which earned them approximately 11 billion euros in profit, and following this transfer New Yorks share of Dutch central bank gold fell from 31.3 percent to 18.5 percent while Londons share rose from 18.1 percent to 32.1 percent, now representing the largest portion of the Dutch reserve. This move by the Netherlands is not an isolated incident but rather the latest chapter in a major global trend that economists call gold repatriation, a movement that began in 2013 when Germany lost trust in the administration of then US President Barack Obama and accelerated rapidly after the Ukraine war in 2022, as Germany transferred 674 tons of gold back to Frankfurt from New York and Paris between 2013 and 2017, yet 1,236 tons of German gold still remain stored in New York constituting 37 percent of its total reserves and political pressure from German lawmakers to bring this remaining gold back home is mounting, while France withdrew its final 129 tons of gold from the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026 and transferred it to Paris, meaning that all of Frances 2,437 tons of gold is now securely held within its own borders, and during this transfer France sold old standard bars in New York and bought new standard bars in Europe generating approximately 13 billion euros in profit, while Indias Reserve Bank reduced its overseas gold holdings from 55 percent in 2023 to just 22 percent by March 2026 bringing back between 274 and 280 tons of gold to the country during this period, and in Eastern Europe Poland, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic have also prioritized reducing their overseas gold reserves and moving them to their national vaults, while Serbia’s National Bank transferred its entire gold reserve worth roughly six billion dollars back to the country in July 2025, and Turkey and Nigeria have also repatriated large gold reserves in recent years. Global think tanks and research institutions have issued detailed reports on the depth and implications of this trend, with the World Gold Councils 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey revealing that 89 percent of central banks expect global gold reserves to increase over the next twelve months and 45 percent intend to increase their gold holdings in that timeframe which is the highest rate in history, as this survey included 76 central banks and found that 84 percent believe golds share of global reserves will rise over the next five years while 74 percent believe the dollars share will decline during the same period, and<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/southasianchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-03-at-2.49.23-PM-2-262x300.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
according to the World Gold Council 82 percent of central banks now hold physical gold in 2026 compared to 71 percent in the previous year, while among the primary reasons for gold acquisition 90 percent of central banks cited performance during crises as the most important factor which is the highest recorded level, while 84 percent cited long term value storage and 83 percent cited portfolio diversification, and World Gold Council Global CEO Fan Shaoqi stated that the surveys clear message is that central banks demand for gold is continuously increasing, while another World Gold Council report noted that in May 2026 global official gold reserves saw a net increase of 41 tons indicating that central bank gold purchases have accelerated. The London based think tank OMFIF, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, in its 2026 Global Public Investor Survey revealed for the first time that more central banks intend to reduce their dollar reserves over the next decade, as this survey included 90 central banks, public pension funds, and sovereign funds managing a combined ten trillion dollars in assets and found that 79 percent of central banks and 60 percent of public funds believe the global financial system is moving toward a multipolar world with gold emerging at the center of central bank reserve management strategies, while in the short term gold is the asset in which central banks most intend to increase holdings and 30 percent of respondents plan to raise their gold allocation within the next one to two years, and the survey found that 51 percent of central banks cited geopolitical risk as a reason for gold acquisition up from 45 percent the previous year while 68 percent cited diversification up from 61 percent, and OMFIF Senior Economist Yara Aziz wrote in the report that the old assumption that public investors can wait for conditions to normalize increasingly feels unrealistic, while another OMFIF report stated that although the dollar remains dominant at approximately 58 percent of global reserves, for the first time the net intention among central banks to move away from the dollar has reached 3 percent and on a ten year horizon this net reduction could reach 8 percent, with the report noting that dollar proponents point to its liquid market, depth, and the US defense budget while opponents cite the US fiscal deficit, currency depreciation, and the risk of using financial infrastructure as a foreign policy weapon. These trends of gold repatriation and de dollarization are having profound impacts on both the United States and the United Kingdom, as for the United States this transfer is primarily damaging in terms of trust, reputation, and status with the number of central banks storing gold in New York declining from 17 percent to 14 percent and the dollars share of global foreign exchange reserves falling to 57 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from 64 percent in 2016, while Federal Reserve data shows that foreign official gold stored in the United States declined by two percent between the end of 2024 and April 2026, and this trend represents a symbolic blow to the global supremacy of the US dollar and if this pattern continues New Yorks status as a global safe keeping hub could weaken further, while on the other hand for the United Kingdom this transfer is clearly beneficial as it further consolidates Londons position as the global capital for gold with London already being the worlds largest over the counter gold trading hub where more than 900 billion dollars worth of gold is traded each week, and the total gold held in the Bank of Englands vaults has further increased making it already the second largest repository in the world, while the improved liquidity and trading convenience in London could boost lending and trading activities. According to the In Gold We Trust report of 2026, the resurgence of gold in the global financial system is occurring through six vectors, with the first vector being the reserve function under which after Russias foreign exchange reserves were frozen in 2022 the principle became established that reserves not under physical control are not reserves in emergencies and the wave of gold repatriation is proof of this, while the second vector is the private sector where pension funds hold less than two percent gold representing the largest institutional demand gap in history, and the third vector is the balance sheet where a quiet recapitalization is underway as in February 2025 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled asset side monetization which the market interpreted as a precursor to gold revaluation, while the fourth vector is anchoring under which Judy Sheltons Treasury Trust bonds which are 50 year and gold convertible are planned for launch on July 4, 2026, and the fifth vector is accumulation under which central banks have accumulated 9,700 tons of gold since 2010 almost entirely in the East, while the sixth vector is digitalization where tokenized gold defeats CBDCs because tokenized gold remains currency neutral and censorship resistant, and the report states that gold is not moving to the center of the system but rather the system itself is moving toward gold due to financial fatigue, geopolitical fragmentation, and a lack of institutional trust. The Vedbush report titled The Great Gold Homecoming states that the era of the global vault in New York is ending because central banks want direct control over their most critical reserves, and the report notes that this trend is providing strong fundamental support for gold prices and as central banks shift from paper assets like US Treasuries to physical gold the global financial landscape is undergoing a structural transformation that challenges the long standing supremacy of the US dollar, while Frances transfer was viewed with concern in Washington because it was a symbolic vote of no confidence in the stability of the dollar centric status quo, and The Guardian report stated that the dollar is losing its credibility and central banks no longer consider their strategic reserves safe in dollar terms, with the report adding that investors whether private or sovereign are confident that their strategic reserves are no longer safe in dollars and the dollar is losing its reputation as a designated anchor. All of these reports and studies indicate that the Netherlands transfer of 86 tons of gold is not merely a technical or logistical decision but a major shift in the global balance of power in which countries are prioritizing their financial sovereignty and reducing their dependence on the US dollar, and according to the World Gold Council central banks are moving their gold reserves to safer and more accessible locations, with 50 percent of central banks keeping their gold domestically in 2020 rising to 59 percent by 2026, and this trend accelerated particularly after the freezing of Russias foreign exchange reserves in 2022 which taught central banks worldwide the lesson that assets held in other countries are not safe from political risks, while according to the OMFIF report dollar proponents point to its liquid market and depth but opponents point to the US fiscal deficit, currency depreciation, and the risk of using financial infrastructure as a foreign policy weapon which intensified further during Donald Trumps second term, and in light of these challenges central banks are now considering moving their gold reserves to neutral hubs such as Singapore, Dubai, and Shanghai to avoid US and UK control, and this trend is part of the broader de dollarization process in which countries like the BRICS Plus group are experimenting with alternative systems such as digital settlement units for energy trade while China is trying to use the strategic window to make Shanghai the next global gold hub, and the cumulative result of all these changes is that the global financial system is moving toward a multipolar system where the unilateral dominance of the dollar will no longer exist and gold is restoring its position as a critical strategic asset.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AMERICAS SHOCKING BLOW THE NETHERLANDS 86 TON GOLD TRANSFER AND THE NEW WAVE OF GLOBAL DE DOLLARIZATION BY MIAN IFTIKHAR AHMAD On September 2, 2026, the Dutch central bank made an announcement that sent shockwaves through global financial circles, as De Nederlandsche Bank DNB revealed that between March and August 2026 it had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event","category-topstories"],"yoast_head":"\n