Why in News?

• Globally, gold reserves with central banks rise 51 tonnes, highest since Oct. 2018.

Details:

• 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. 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. Collectively,
• central banks — mostly from the emerging markets — continue to accumulate gold at a healthy pace.

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.

World gold council:

• The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold. Headquartered in London United Kingdom.