World’s central banks want more gold as India joins spree

India’s central bank is likely to join counterparts in Russia and China scooping up gold this year, adding to its record holdings and lending support to worldwide bullion demand as top economies diversify their reserves.

The Reserve Bank of India’s purchases are part of a wider picture across developing economies that are looking at de-dollarising their foreign-exchange reserves, according to Ross Strachan at Capital Economics . The RBI’s buying trend can be sustained for a number of years in relatively small quantities, as part of a long-term diversification, he said.