Italy lawmakers revive state claim on central bank's $300 billion gold pile

By Giuseppe Fonte and Giselda Vagnoni

ROME (Reuters) -Italian lawmakers have revived attempts to establish that the central bank's $300 billion in gold reserves belong to the state by presenting a proposal to parliament.

All five lawmakers who signed the proposal, which was tabled as an amendment to next year's budget, are senators from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party.

The Bank of Italy sits on the world's third-largest national gold stockpile, behind only the United States and Germany. Its 2,452 metric tons of gold are equivalent to around 13% of national output.

Unlike Britain or Spain, Italy has refused to sell off gold during financial downturns, retaining its reserves even through the 2008 debt crisis. Central banks generally accumulate gold to hedge against adverse scenarios and preserve confidence in the financial system.

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.

Critics say such initiatives would undermine the central bank's independence established under European Union treaties.

"The gold reserves managed and held by the Bank of Italy belong to the state, on behalf of the Italian people," said the proposal presented to parliament.

Lucio Malan, one of the sponsor lawmakers, did not reply when asked about the rationale of the initiative.

However, amendments to the budget that do not affect tax revenue or spending are usually declared inadmissible under parliamentary rules.

The Bank of Italy says on its website that gold could be used as collateral to obtain loans or, as a last resort, sold on the market to buy the national currency to support its value.

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.

($1 = 0.8628 euros)

(Editing by Alexander Smith)