At 78 tonnes, RBI’s Gold Purchases till Oct Second Highest After 2009
CHENNAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added 27 tonnes of gold to its reserves in October, taking its total gold purchases year-to-date to 78 tonnes, the highest since it bought 200 tonnes from IMF in 2009.
RBI was the leading purchaser of gold in the month of October among central banks, which were net purchasers of 60 tonnes in the month.
With the October purchase, RBI’s total gold reserves touched 882 tonnes. In 2023, it had bought just 16 tonnes and the 2024 purchases are the highest since 2009 when India had bought 200 tonnes from the International Monetary Fund.
India bought gold in the month which saw prices trading around Rs 76,000 -77,000 per 10 gm, having hit record high levels many times in the month.
“During times of uncertainty, investments move into gold and dollars. With the geo-political tensions around, RBI would have thought of building its gold reserves,” said Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist, Infomerics Ratings.
“Further, the new regime in the US is also likely to add to the uncertainties,” said Ajay Kedia, MD, Kedia Commodities.
RBI also had transported 102 tonnes of gold from the Bank of England's vaults in London to secure storage facilities within India. At the end of September, of the central bank holdings of 855 tonnes of gold, 510.5 tonnes were stored domestically. Since September 2022, a total of 214 tonnes has been relocated to India as probably the bank wanted to safeguard its assets amid escalating global geopolitical tensions.