RBI Update: A record rise is being seen in the prices of gold and RBI is among the big importers of gold. RBI had to pay heavy duty on this import.
RBI Gold Reserve: The Central Government has given big relief to the Reserve Bank of India, the regulator of the banking sector. RBI will no longer have to pay import duty to the government on import of gold. The central government has also issued a notification regarding this. Those importing gold have to pay Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess to the government in addition to Custom Duty.
CBIC issued notification
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has issued a notification on 12 March 2024. In which it has been said that the Reserve Bank of India will not have to pay Agricultural Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) along with custom tariff on exporting gold to India. In recent times, central banks around the world are purchasing the most gold, including India’s central bank RBI. Earlier, whoever was importing gold from RBI had to pay cess along with custom duty.
RBI has more than 800 tonnes of gold
If we look at the data of gold reserves available with RBI, till September 2023, RBI had gold reserves of 800.79 tonnes which included 39.89 tonnes of gold deposits. According to the latest Reserve Management Report of RBI, out of the total gold reserves with RBI, 388.06 tonnes of gold is deposited abroad while 372.84 tonnes of gold is present in the country.
RBI has been buying gold since 2017
Since 2017, RBI has been purchasing gold extensively. According to the World Gold Council, in 2023, the world’s central banks have purchased a total of 1037 tonnes of gold, out of which one-third has been purchased by the RBI and the People’s Bank of China. Despite the record rise in gold prices, RBI has never made profits by selling gold. The share of gold reserves in the total forex reserves of the country till December 2023 has been 7.70 percent, which is more than the gold reserves of China.
