Bank of Portugal gold increased 4.3% in value in 2021

Bank of Portugal gold reserves increased 4.3% in value in 2021 on 2020 to a total of €19.8Bn — almost 10% of national GDP.

It meant that the increase in value of national gold reserves were able to offset the fall in Bank of Portugal profits. The BoP had presented its annual results on May 17.
The increase in value was not down to market fluctuations in the price of gold, or the quantity of gold held in the vaults which remains the same, but rather by changing the post code which increased the value of some Portuguese gold …. To France!
In 2021, around 4 tonnes of Bank of Portugal gold was transferred to the Bank of France to increase its value and maintain the gold within the Eurosystem. Portugal has not sold any gold since 2007 because of an EU stability agreement.
In Portugal, much of its gold is held at a closely guarded facility in Carregado which also holds bank notes in all denominations (€2.6Bn) which amounts to as much as the State Budget in 2022 will spend on supporting the recovery of companies.
In Portugal’s ‘Fort Knox’ there are 173 tonnes of gold divided into around 13,000 ingots, each one weighing 13 kilograms. Some of them are so old they still bear the hallmark of the former Soviet Union!
Portugal currently has the 14th largest gold reserves in the world and the 6th largest in Western Europe.
Apart from France, around 49% (186 tonnes) of Portugal’s gold is stored in the Bank of England. Some gold is held in the US Federal Reserve while some is also in the German Federal Reserve.