February 26, 2016
THE HAGUE (AFP) - The Dutch central bank is mulling a weighty problem: whether to move 189 tonnes of its gold reserves worth seven billion euros to another spot away from busy central Amsterdam.
Security measures in place around the DNB at its Amsterdam headquarters have become a nuisance for both the bank's employees and residents, a spokesman told AFP Thursday.
"The Dutch central bank will examine if it is possible to move the 'high value zone' to another place," said Martijn Pols.
Some 1,700 people work at the bank's headquarters and "to enter the building security is close to that at airports," he explained.
The arrival and departure of funds also poses a problem for those trying to navigate the narrow streets around the building and has become "annoying" for the area, the bank said in a statement.
The "high value zone" also contains cash and is used for some essential activities such as checking whether bills are forgeries or not.
The DNB hopes to make a decision this year on whether to remove the reserves -- stocked in the form of thousands of gold bars -- before a planned renovation of the building that it has occupied since 1968.
The Netherlands owns 612 tonnes of gold reserves -- worth around 20 billion euros ($22 billion).
About a third is held in the country, with the rest stored in the United States, Canada and Britain.
