Story:
The Government of Narendra Modi Mortgaged 268Tonnes Gold of RBI Outside, Not Told The Country.
These are country traitors
Other Versions
1.Modi govt. secretly transported 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014
2. (Hindi)
देश का 268 टन सोना गिरवी रखा मोदीं ने विदेश में और इस बात को पूरी तरह मोदी सरकार के द्वारा गोपनीय रखा गया.
Fact Check:
The claim in question is, the Government of Narendra Modi has Transported 268Tonnes of RBI’s Gold Outside India Secretly and Mortgaged in Switzerland. These messages are circulating heavily on certain sections of print and social media. They allege BJP Government traitors did it soon after they came to power in May 2014. No, the claims are not true.
Origin of Claim: Modi Government Mortgaged 268Tonnes Gold Outside India
On 1st May 2019, Navneet Chaturvedi blogged about 200 tonnes of Gold missing from RBI’s reserves. The next day, his allegations appeared on National Herald website nationalheraldindia.com. The article questioned if Modi government secretly transported the 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014.
Navneet Chaturvedi is an independent investigative journalist in India who’s fighting the 2019 Lok Sabha election from South Delhi constituency. He filed an RTI (Right to Information) seeking information on the existing gold reserves of the RBI in 2018. He also studied Central bank’s annual reports. In response to another question, RBI replied that the “Reserve Bank of India holds 268.01 tonnes of gold overseas in safe custody with Bank of England and Bank of International Settlements”. That is how he came to the conclusion 200 tonnes of gold is missing from RBI’s reserves and records.
Navneet Chaturvedi asked what the government got in return for exchanging the 268 tonnes of gold. He also asked why the information about the transaction is not available in public domain. The Congress party also tweeted about the query and linked the article on National Herald website. They questioned whether Modi government secretly transported 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014.
Tonnes of RBI Gold Missing from Records?
Firstly, we looked into RBI records about the said 268.01 tonnes of gold. We found its information in a half yearly report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves for October-March 2017-18.
The Reserve Bank holds 560.32 tonnes of gold, of which 268.01 tonnes are held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)..
So, like claimed, this is not a secret hidden from public. Further, responding to the query, Reserve Bank of India issued a press release on 3rd May 2019. It clarified the safe custody of its gold reserves. RBI explained it is a normal practice of Central banks around the world to keep their gold reserves in central banks of other countries – for safe custody. It also mentioned there’s no shift of gold outside the country in 2014 or thereafter. RBI said the media reports are factually incorrect.
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.
So, the claim that Narendra Modi Government secretly transported/mortgaged 200/268 tonnes of RBI’s gold to a Switzerland bank is not true. RBI responded saying it is a normal practice to keep gold reserves in central banks abroad for safe custody.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
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