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Austrian central bank to repatriate some gold from London

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's central bank plans to repatriate some of its gold reserves from Britain after facing criticism for storing too much of the precious metal abroad, it said on Thursday.

The Austrian National Bank, which administers Austria's 280 tonnes of gold reserves, said by 2020 50 percent of the reserves would be kept in Austria, 30 percent in London and 20 percent in Switzerland.

It currently keeps 80 percent of its gold reserves, which have been unchanged since 2007, in Britain, 17 percent in Austria and 3 percent in Switzerland.

The OeNB in February rejected criticism of its gold storage policy from the country's Court of Audit. At the time it insisted that keeping the bulk of the reserves in London was in the country's best interests but also said a policy review was under way.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Jason Neely)