RBI joins central bank gold rush, buys 9 tonnes in Jul-Sep

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) purchased nine tonnes of gold in the September quarter, contributing to the 337 tonnes purchased by global central banks, and underscoring the importance of gold as a diversifier of its total reserves.

- Ram Sahgal

With the latest quarterly buying, India’s official gold reserves stood at 806.7 tonnes as of September end, placing it at No. 10 in the pecking order, according to miner’s lobby World Gold Council (WGC).

Purchases so far this year have totalled 19.3 tonnes. RBI has been adding gold to its total reserves since 2017. From then until the current year it has purchased 248.9 tonnes, WGC data shows.

India’s total forex reserves stood at $586.9 billion as of 29 September, out of which the value of gold held was $43.7 billion or 7.44% of the total reserves, according to RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement on 6 October.