The French central bank (Banque de France - BdF) announced that in the period July 2025 - January 2026 it renewed 129 tons, about 5% of its total reserves, earning EUR 12.8 billion from this. The bank is gradually replacing older, substandard gold with bars that meet modern international standards. The big "retreat" was in 1963 - 1966, when the most significant quantities were withdrawn - by the FED and the Bank of England. Today, the process of withdrawing the gold from New York is completely complete.
Instead of refining and transporting the gold remaining in the US, France has chosen to sell it and buy new, modern-standard bars from European exchanges. There are still 134 tons of older bars and coins that the bank intends to replace by 2028.
The decision to withdraw from the US is not politically motivated, but entirely economically justified.
Thanks mainly to gold transactions, the central bank has erased the loss of 7.7 billion euros since 2024 and made a net profit of 8.1 billion euros before last year.