Gold bonds trading to start this month-end: Govt

The Dollar Business Bureau

The fourth leg of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme will be launched soon, and the gold bonds trading shall start during the month end, Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday.

The Finance Ministry has reviewed the development of Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) and Sovereign Bond Scheme (SBS) during a meeting held in New Delhi under the leadership of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary, Shaktikanta Das. The meeting was attended by top executives of public and private sector banks, along with the senior officials of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS).

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched gold schemes on November 5, 2015, the overall gold accrued under the Short Term Bank Deposit (STBD) as well as the Medium and Long Term Government Deposit (MLTGD) is now 2891 kg. There are over 46 Collection and Purity Verification Centers (CPTCs), 8 refiners and one BIS accredited jeweller.

Shaktikanta Das urged the banks to work towards mobilising higher quantities of gold under the gold scheme to accomplish the objectives of the scheme. He appealed to the banks to add more number of agreements (tripartite and bipartite) with the CPTCs and gold refiners. On a separate note he asked the Indian Bankers’ Association (IBA) and all banks to include qualified jewellers to act as collection and purity verification centres in the scheme. He stressed to bring in jewellers particularly in areas where CTPCs are not present or their presence is negligible.

The DEA Secretary directed the banks to adopt practical methodologies while seeking guarantees or collaterals from the CPTCs. Moreover, the government has decided to support the aggressive media campaign that the IBA would start in partnership with the World Gold Council.