Amidst geo-political tensions, gold prices continued their surge. Reserve Bank of India had 854.73 metric tonnes of gold as of September 30, of which 510.46 metric tonnes were held domestically. Gold held domestically increased more than 102 tonnes between April and September this year to 510.46 metric tonnes, from 408 metric tonnes at the end of March.
According to RBI's 'Half Yearly Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves: April-September 2024, it maintained safe custody with the Bank of England and BIS, and in gold deposit form, it maintained 20.26 metric tonnes out of 324.01 metric tonnes.
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 net basis of valuation changes, foreign exchange reserves increased by $5.2 billion in April-June 2024 compared with the increase of $24.4 billion during April-June 2023.
Foreign exchange reserves, at nominal value (with valuation changes), increased by $5.6 billion in April-June 2024 over the gain of $16.6 billion in the same quarter last year according to the RBI figures.
The net forward asset of the Reserve Bank as of September end stood at $14.58 billion.
During the period of June end-2023 and June end-2024, the external assets have grown by $108.4 billion and the external liabilities by $97.7 billion.
The net International Investment Position (IIP) as of end-June 2024 stood negative at $368.3 billion compared to a negative net IIP of $379.0 billion at end-June 2023, meaning that total liabilities of the country are outweighed by total assets owned by the country in both years. The negative gap narrowed on a year-on-year basis, according to the central bank.
The foreign currency assets (FCAs) consist of multi-currency assets that are kept in multi-asset portfolios in accordance with the norms existing at present, which are in consonance with best international practices followed in this respect.
As on end-September 2024, out of the total FCA of $617.07 billion, $515.30 billion was invested in securities, $60.11 billion was kept as deposit with other central banks and the BIS and the balance $41.66 billion constituted deposits with commercial banks overseas.
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