DIVERSIFYING ITS ASSETS Investing in gold is a prudent treasury move by the central bank at a time of rising yields. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has bought gold for the first time in nearly a decade, signalling that the metal could be in demand as a store of value when returns and capital values of fixed-income bonds are declining in a rising rate environment. The RBI added 8.46 metric tonnes of gold to its stock of holdings during the financial year 2017-18 that ended June 30, taking the level of gold reserves to 566.23 metric tonnes, according to its latest annual report. It last bought 200 metric tonnes from the IMF to boost its reserves in November 2009. Over the past nine years, the gold stock in RBI reserves was stable at 17.9 million troy ounce. But RBI has started adding to its stock since December 2017, data submitted to the IMF indicate. Stock of gold, as of June 30, amounted to 18.20 million troy ounce or equivalent to 566.23 metric tonnes, up from 17.9 million