Indian government denies RBI sold gold to protect forex reserves
Heard the buzz about India selling off its gold? The government just shut down those rumors, saying the RBI did not sell gold to protect foreign exchange reserves, despite a Bloomberg report suggesting otherwise.
The story picked up because there were tensions in the Middle East and some unusual movement in RBI's reserves.
Congress claims Modi government sold gold
Even though gold import duties went up (which usually means more valuable reserves), the reported value of the RBI's bullion reserves still dropped.
At the same time, they bought $7.5 billion in foreign currency assets.
The news sparked some political drama too, with Congress calling it "This is Amrit Kaal. The Modi government has sold the country's gold."
The government insists: No gold was sold, so nothing to panic about.