Mumbai, June 3 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday clarified that its physical stock of gold remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes, dismissing media reports that suggested the central bank had sold part of its gold reserves.

In a statement, the RBI said it had come across reports in certain sections of the media regarding the sale of gold by the central bank, and emphasised that such reports were incorrect.

“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come across reports in certain sections of the media about RBI’s sale of gold. The RBI emphasises that these reports are not correct,” the central bank stated.

“In this context, it is clarified that the physical stock of gold is disclosed by RBI in its Monthly Bulletin,” it added.

The central bank further added that details regarding its gold holdings are regularly disclosed in its Monthly Bulletin published on the central bank’s official website.

The RBI also advised members of the public to rely only on official information released by the central bank from time to time in such matters.

“Members of public are, therefore, advised to rely on official information published by RBI from time to time in such matters,” the central bank explained.

The clarification came after a Bloomberg report claimed that the RBI may have reduced part of its gold holdings to protect its foreign-currency reserves from the impact of the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

According to the report, the RBI likely sold gold reserves worth around $12 billion during the two weeks ending May 22, while purchasing $7.5 billion in foreign-currency assets.

The report further stated that the RBI’s interventions in the foreign exchange market appeared to have supported the rupee, helping the Indian currency perform better than most Asian peers since May 20, when it touched a record low.

–IANS

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