India has marginally increased its gold holding in February while maintaining the tenth position among countries in terms of yellow metal reserves, as per latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC).
India added 1.7 tonnes in February while most other countries, barring Russia and China, saw their reserves unchanged in the recent past.
As per WGC, India had total gold reserves of 608.7 tonnes in February, marginally up from the previous month’s holding of 607 tonnes.
Apart from India, only two other countries among the top 10 in terms of gold reserves increased their holdings in the month of February.
While the Russian Federation saw its reserves increase from 2,119.2 tonnes to 2,150.5 tonnes, the reserves of China (Mainland) rose from 1,864.3 tonnes to 1,874.3 tonnes between January and February.
Incidentally, India’s overall ranking is pegged at 11 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) boasts of gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes to occupy the third position after the U.S. (8,133.5 tonnes) and Germany (3,369.7 tonnes).
“Central bank gold reserves increased by a net 51 tonnes in February 2019, with gross sales minimal at only 0.2 tonnes,” said Alistair Hewitt, director of market intelligence, WGC.
“This is the highest level of monthly purchases since October 2018 and brings the reported year-to-date net increase in global reserves to 90 tonnes. Collectively, central banks — mostly from the emerging markets — continue to accumulate gold at a healthy pace. Nine central banks made a meaningful increase to their reserves in February versus 10 in January,” added Mr. Hewitt.
Other countries
Some of the other countries that also have a significant gold reserve include Taiwan (423.6 tonnes), Portugal (382.5 tonnes), Kazakhstan (356.3 tonnes), Uzbekistan (342.1 tonnes) and Saudi Arabia (323.1 tonnes).
Pakistan has 64.6 tonnes and is ranked 45 while Sri Lanka (19.9 tonnes) and Bangladesh (14 tonnes) are at 63rd and 66th positions.
Nepal with 6.4 tonnes is at 82nd position.