Share Of Gold In India's Forex Reserves Rises
Gold made up 7% of India's forex reserves as of March 31.
The share of gold in India's foreign exchange reserves rose to above 7% as of March, according to a Reserve Bank of India report. This came as the central bank continued to add more gold to its stockpile but also saw the value of foreign currency assets fall.
The total foreign exchange reserves stood at $607. 31 billion as of March-end. It has since fallen to $597 billion.
According to the RBI's half-yearly report on management of foreign exchange reserves, "In value terms (U.S. dollar), the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves increased from about 5.88% as at end-September 2021 to about 7.01% as at end-March 2022."
In terms of quantity, too, the RBI continued to buy more gold.
As at end-March, the Reserve Bank held 760.42 metric tonnes of gold (including gold deposits of 11.08 metric tonnes). As of September, the central bank's gold holdings stood at 743.84 metric tonnes.
"While 453.52 metric tonnes of gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), 295.82 metric tonnes of gold is held domestically," the RBI said.
Over the past year, the central bank has added 45 metric tonnes of gold.
Overall, India's forex reserves, according to the report remain comfortable, although metrics of adequacy slipped a touch.
They cover 13.1 months of imports compared to 14.6 months as of end-September 2021. The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to reserves, which was 16.5% at end-September 2021, increased to 18.1% by end-December 2021. The ratio of volatile capital flows (including cumulative portfolio inflows and outstanding short-term debt) to reserves increased from 64.1% per cent at end-September 2021 to 65% at end-December 2021, the report said.