DJ India Official: RBI May Bid To Buy More Gold If IMF Sells

Tue. November 03, 2009;

NEW DELHI, Nov 03, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex)

-

The Reserve Bank of India may buy more gold from the International Monetary Fund if it offers to sell the precious metal, a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday.

.

"It makes sense to buy gold as it will appreciate more than the U.S. dollar," the official, who asked not to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The IMF sold 200 metric tons of gold to the Indian central bankMonday for $6.7 billion, or 4.2 billion of special drawing rights, which comprise a combination of currencies.

The gold purchase was a move to diversify the reserves held by the central bank, the official added.

The Reserve Bank held foreign-exchange reserves of $285.5 billion as of Oct. 23, of which gold comprised more than $10 billion.