The National Democratic Alliance government had kept 65.27 tonnes of gold out of the Reserve Bank of India's total holding of 350 tonnes with the Bank of England, violating the Sec 33(5) of the RBI Act which stipulated that not more than 15 per cent of RBI's stock should be deposited outside the country for a short period, Janata Party President Dr Subramanian Swamy alleged in Madurai on Wednesday.
In a statement he said that the RBI had deposited 18 per cent of its stock in the Bank of England which paid only 0.6 per cent interest on the gold deposit, treating it as short-term deposit, though normal returns to gold deposits elsewhere would be 5 per cent.
He said the country would be losing about $1.5 billion a year, and demanded an enquiry by the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
The decision to keep unauthorisied amounts of gold in the Bank of England was violating the Act. The RBI had not obtained the commerce ministry's clearance to deposit the amount, he said.
