RBI moves 104 tonnes of gold domestically as share in forex reserves rises

Some of the gold reserves remain with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.
| Photo Credit:
FRANCIS KOKOROKO

Over the six‑month period ending March 2026, the Reserve Bank transferred an additional 104.23 metric tonnes of its gold stock domestically.

According to the semi‑annual foreign‑exchange reserves report released on Thursday, the central bank’s total gold holdings rose slightly to 880.52 MT in March 2026, up from 880.18 MT at the close of September 2025.

The amount of gold kept within the country grew to 290.37 MT in March 2026, compared with 575.82 MT in September 2025 and 511.99 MT in March 2025.

The report notes that 197.67 MT of gold is safeguarded with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), while 2.80 MT is held as gold deposits as of March 2026.

In September the bank reported that 290.37 MT of gold was entrusted to the Bank of England and BIS, and 13.99 MT existed as gold deposits.

Higher precious‑metal prices pushed the proportion of gold in the foreign‑exchange reserve basket to 16.7 % in March, up from 13.92 % six months earlier.

From the total foreign‑currency assets of US $552.28 billion, US $465.61 billion was allocated to securities, US $46.83 billion placed with other central banks and the BIS, and the remaining US $39.84 billion consisted of deposits held at overseas commercial banks.

There were slight adjustments in the allocation of foreign‑currency assets, with a modest shift from securities and overseas commercial‑bank deposits toward increased placements with other central banks and the BIS.

The Reserve Bank’s net forward asset (receivable) amounted to US $103.06 billion at the end of March 2026, the figures indicate.

Published on April 30, 2026