RBI buys gold for forex reserves after 5 months, now holds 625 tonnes

The RBI buys gold to hedge the government's sovereign gold bond issue, launched in November 2015

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought 7.5 tonnes of gold in October 2019 for adding to its foreign exchange reserves, which swelled to $461 billion, including $28 billion gold. 

However, addition in the form of gold took place after five months (the last was in April), the World Gold Council (WGC) said. 

The RBI now holds 625.2 tonnes of gold or 6.6 per cent of its forex reserves.

The council released a report on total gold holdings by global central banks recently.  It was based on data provided by them on gold buying to the International Monitory Fund (IMF).

The RBI is still