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As gold prices continue to surge amid geo-political tensions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had 854.73 metric tonnes of gold as of September 30 and out of which, 510.46 metric tonnes were held domestically. 

Gold held domestically surged more than 102 tonnes between April and September this year to 510.46 metric tonnes, against 408 metric tonnes at the end of March.

While 324.01 metric tonnes of gold were kept in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 20.26 metric tonnes were held in the form of gold deposits, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ‘Half Yearly Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves: April-September 2024.’

In value terms (USD), the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves increased from 8.15 per cent as at end-March 2024 to about 9.32 per cent as at September end.

During the half-year period under review, foreign reserves increased from $646.42 billion in March end to $705.78 billion in September.

On a balance of payments basis (excluding valuation effects), foreign exchange reserves increased by $5.2 billion during April-June 2024 compared to the increase of $ 24.4 billion during April-June 2023.

Foreign exchange reserves in nominal terms (including valuation effects) increased by $5.6 billion during April-June 2024 as compared with an increase of $16.6 billion in the corresponding period of the preceding year, according to the RBI data.

The net forward asset (payable) of the Reserve Bank stood at $14.58 billion as at the end of September.

During the period between end-June 2023 and end-June 2024, the external assets increased by $108.4 billion and external liabilities increased by $97.7 billion.

“The net International Investment Position (IIP) as at end-June 2024 was negative at $368.3 billion as against a negative net IIP of $379.0 billion at end-June 2023, implying that the sum of all external liabilities is more than that of the external assets in both periods. There has been a decrease in the negative gap on a year-on-year basis,” the Central Bank informed.

The foreign currency assets (FCAs) comprise multi-currency assets that are held in multi-asset portfolios as per the existing norms, which conform to the best international practices followed in this regard.

As at end-September 2024, out of the total FCA of $617.07 billion, $515.30 billion was invested in securities, $60.11 billion was deposited with other central banks and the BIS and the balance $41.66 billion comprised deposits with commercial banks overseas.