ROME (Realist English). Italy, long accustomed to financial turbulence, is now quietly reaping the rewards of its enduring commitment to gold. As prices hit record highs, the Bank of Italy’s vast bullion holdings — 2,452 metric tons worth about $300 billion — have become one of the country’s most valuable strategic assets, equal to roughly 13% of national output, according to Reuters calculations.
Italy’s hoard ranks third globally, behind only the United States and Germany, and reflects a postwar doctrine of financial resilience forged after Nazi forces, aided by Mussolini’s regime, seized 120 tons of the nation’s reserves in the 1940s. By the end of the war, just 20 tons remained.
During the 1950s economic recovery, Italy rebuilt its reserves, converting export-driven dollar inflows into gold and recovering three-quarters of the wartime losses by 1958. By 1960, holdings had risen to 1,400 tons, and Rome’s commitment to the metal never wavered — even during the 1970s oil crises, the 2008 eurozone debt turmoil, and more recent budget strains.
“Gold is like the family silverware — the last resort in any crisis that undermines international confidence,” wrote Salvatore Rossi, former deputy governor of the Bank of Italy, in his 2018 book Oro (Gold).
A legacy of stability
In 1976, facing capital flight and political unrest, Italy even used 41,300 gold bars as collateral for a $2 billion Bundesbank loan — but unlike Britain or Spain, it never liquidated its reserves. Today, gold represents nearly 75% of Italy’s official reserves, far above the eurozone average of 66.5%, according to the World Gold Council.
About 1,100 tons are stored beneath the Bank of Italy’s Palazzo Koch headquarters in Rome, with similar amounts held in New York, and smaller portions in London and Switzerland. The central bank also holds over 870,000 gold coins, weighing about four tons, in a vault nicknamed “the sacristy” — a nod to its almost sacred status in Italy’s financial system.
“The Bank of Italy’s historical decision not to sell gold feels strikingly modern,” said Stefano Caselli, dean of Milan’s SDA Bocconi School of Management. “Because we are back there again — in a world where gold is once more the ultimate symbol of security.”
Calls to sell meet firm resistance
Italy’s public debt has now surpassed €3 trillion ($3.5 trillion), equal to 137% of GDP, reviving perennial calls from some politicians to sell part of the gold stockpile. Economists, however, remain skeptical.
“Selling even half of the gold would not fix Italy’s debt problem,” said Giacomo Chiorino, head of market analysis at Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. “It would be a short-term move with little structural impact.”
Meanwhile, others argue that proceeds could support social spending, but the central bank has shown no intention to sell. Officials declined to comment for this article.
As digital currencies gain traction and global geopolitics grow more uncertain, many central banks are once again accumulating gold as a safeguard of last resort.
“In a world being redrawn by inflation, war, and new forms of money, central banks hold the hottest asset,” said Caselli. “They are right not to sell.”
