The gains from the operation helped lift the Banque de France’s net profit for 2025 to €8.1 billion. That marked a sharp change from the €7.7 billion net loss recorded a year earlier. The gold sale played a major role in that turnaround.
France’s move has drawn attention in Germany, where part of the country’s gold remains at the Federal Reserve. The Bundesbank holds about 1,236 tonnes in the United States, or around 37% of Germany’s total gold reserves.
Some German economists have called for those reserves to be brought home. Michael Jäger, head of the Association of German Taxpayers and the European Taxpayers Association, said, “Trump is unpredictable and he does everything to generate revenue.” He added that Germany’s gold is “no longer safe in the Fed’s vaults.”
The Bundesbank has not announced any plan to withdraw its gold from the United States. France, however, has now completed its repatriation process and placed all of its official gold reserves in Paris.