LONDON(BullionStreet): Germany's decision (not officialised yet) to repatriate a major portion of it's gold stored in the US,UK and France may start the trend of switching to physical gold from financial gold, analysts said.

They added that financial gold or paper gold served the globe for too long and during the current economic crisis,it may not get the support it enjoyed for long.

They however said the process is definitely in its early stages. But it may eventually appear as people and governments want to see the real gold to fight inflation.

Some experts said if gold repatriation becomes a worldwide trend, it will be obvious that both the US and UK have lost their credibility as gold custodians.

On Tuesday, German language business newspaper reported that the Bundesbank has developed a plan to retrieve large parts of the German gold reserves stored for safety in the US, UK and France.

This move by the Bundesbank may trigger a chain reaction, prompting other countries to start repatriating the gold stored in London, New York or Paris.

So far, only countries that have a strained relationship with the US have resorted to gold repatriation. Now, Bundesbank will be seen as walking in Hugo Chavez’s footsteps.

German press that first forced Bundesbank to admit that 69% of its gold is stored outside Germany.

The US Federal Reserves holds 45 percent of Germany's 3396 tons of gold while the Bank of England holds 13 percent and the Bank of France holds 11 percent. The rest is with the Bundesbank headquarters in Frankfurt.