RBI ups domestic storage of gold by another 104 tonnes

MUMBAI, Apr 30: The Reserve Bank has moved another 104.23 metric tonnes of its gold holdings domestically in the six months ended March 2026.

The central bank’s overall gold holding moved up marginally to 880.52 MT in March 2026 from 880.18 MT at the end of September 2025, as per the half-yearly report on the management of foreign exchange reserves shared on Thursday.

The quantum of gold held domestically increased to 290.37 MT in March 2026 from 575.82 MT in September last year and 511.99 MT in March 2025, it said.

The report said 197.67 MT of gold was kept in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and 2.80 MT were held in the form of gold deposits as of March 2026.

In September, the central bank had disclosed that 290.37 MT of gold is held with the Bank of England and BIS, while 13.99 MT was in the form of gold deposits.

The rally in the prices of the precious metals led to the share of gold reserves in the forex rising to 16.7 per cent in March from 13.92 per cent six months ago.

Out of the total foreign currency assets of USD 552.28 billion, USD 465.61 billion was invested in securities, USD 46.83 billion was deposited with other central banks and the BIS, and the balance, USD 39.84 billion, comprised deposits with commercial banks overseas.

There were minor tweaks in the deployment pattern on FCA, with investments in securities and deposits with commercial banks overseas ceding some space in favour of deposits with other central banks and BIS.

The Reserve Bank’s net forward asset (payable) stood at USD 103.06 billion at the end of March 2026, the data showed. (PTI)