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Around 1,100 tons of the Bank of Italy's gold are stored in a vault beneath its headquarters at Palazzo Koch in Rome. A similar portion is held in the United States, while smaller amounts are kept in Britain and Switzerland.
Politicians of all parties have called in the past 20 years to clarify ownership of the gold and then sell it to cut Italy's public debt, which totals more than 3 trillion euros ($3.48 trillion) and is predicted by the Italian Treasury to peak at 137.4% of GDP next year.
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Gold accounted for nearly 75% of Italy's official reserves at the end of last year, a significantly higher ratio than the 66.5% of the euro zone, World Gold Council data shows.
Another amendment to the budget proposes a one-off levy for households to declare gold held off the books, in a move that could potentially yield the state more than 2 billion euros.
Desperate Times at PIIGS High - watch out Spicoli!