RBI rubbishes reports claiming that 'Modi govt secretly transported 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014', calls them 'factually incorrect'

Rubbishing media reports about shifting India's gold reserves abroad, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, has clarified that no gold has been shifted by to any other country in 2014 and thereafter. by issuing a press release. It also added that it was a normal practice by Central banks around the world to keep gold reserves in central banks abroad.

"We have come across reports in certain sections of the print and social media regarding RBI shifting abroad a part of its gold holding in 2014. It is a normal practice for Central Banks world over, to keep their gold reserves overseas with Central Banks of other countries like Bank of England for safe custody. It is further stated that no gold was shifted by the RBI from India to other countries in 2014 or thereafter. Thus the media reports cited above are factually incorrect," read the statement.

Earlier on Thursday, the Congress had tweeted a news report by the National Herald titled - 'Did the Modi govt secretly transport 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014?'

The article claimed that the Modi government secretly transported 200 tonnes of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) gold reserve overseas immediately after coming to power in May 2014, according to journalist-turned-politician Navneet Chaturvedi.

The article claimed that Chaturvedi  reached his conclusion after filing an RTI seeking information on the existing gold reserves of the RBI last year and through the study of central bank’s annual reports which led him to ask the following questions:

1. What did the government get in return for exchanging the gold?
2. Why is the information about the transaction not available in the public domain?

Chaturvedi further alleged, "This transfer of India’s gold assets to a foreign country should have been in public domain. The government is clearly hiding something, hoping that they would be able to avoid public scrutiny."

National Herald, the Congress-linked newspaper is currently owned Young Indian Pvt. Ltd. in which Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are major stakeholders.