They are? The issue here is simply that the country thinks there is an imbalance. They can request a in country transfer and do, but in this case it’s not enough.

Because international settlement is huge - something like a trillion dollars a day. (Or maybe that's just currency exchange, which might contain speculation in addition to settlement? Or is that a false distinction?)

Anyway, moving that much gold would be slow, inconvenient, and a significant risk.