Chennai: The Reserve Bank of India bought 77 tonnes of gold in 2021 and this was the highest addition since 2009 when India bought 200 ton-nes from the International Monetary Fund, said the World Gold Council.
During 2020, the RBI had purchased 41 tonnes of gold, taking the past two years' total to 118 tonnes. Its gold reserves stood at 676.6 tonnes at the end of 2020, which probably has now gone up to 753 tonnes.
After buying 200 tonnes in November 2009, the reserves were stagnant at 557.7 tonnes for a long time. India had again started buying gold in trickles from the market from 2017.
In 2021, central banks accumulated 463 tonnes of gold and this was 82 per cent higher than 255 tonnes purchased in 2020. According to IMF data, global central bank gold reserves rose closer to 35,600 tonnes in 2021, the highest level since 1992.
Contrary to the trend of past several years, buying was not confined to emerging markets in 2021. For the first time in almost a decade, there was significant buying from developed market central banks. The Monetary Authority of Singapore bought gold for the first time after 21 years and Ireland since 2008.
