New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday attributed rising gold prices to heavy purchases by central banks globally, and said the government and RBI are keeping a close watch on the precious metals' imports, though they are not at an "alarming proportion".

During April-December last year, India's gold imports in value terms increased by about USD 1 billion annually to USD 50 billion.

However, in January this year, there has been a sudden spurt in value as well as in volume of gold imports, and the RBI is analysing the numbers, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said.

Sitharaman said that gold has always been a favoured investment for households, whether as an asset class or for jewellery, and to meet the domestic requirements, India is a net importer of gold.

"We are watching it, but I'm not sure it has reached such alarming proportions, given the tendency ... in India, for investing in and buying gold. And therefore, I think it has not gone in that sense beyond the certain limit, but of course, RBI will also be monitoring it," the minister said.

Talking to reporters after addressing the RBI board, Sitharaman said gold demand in India for domestic consumption has traditionaly spiked during the festival season, Akshaya Tritiya and so on. Besides, the central banks of most countries today are buying gold and silver and storing them.

Malhotra said during April-December 2025, the increase in prices was offset more or less by the decrease in the volumes of imported golds.

"It's only in January, we are still analysing those numbers, that there has been a sudden spurt in value as well as in volume, as the finance minister also mentioned, there is a lot of fluctuations, seasonality in that particular demand," Malhotra said.

The governor said the RBI is "not unduly concerned" about it, especially because India's external sector continues to be very robust and strong.

"The current account deficit is still very, very manageable, as per our projections, it's within or about the 1 per cent of GDP range," Malhota said.

Earlier in the day, the finance minister addressed the 621st meeting of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India here under the Chairmanship of Sanjay Malhotra.

The board assessed the global and domestic economic landscape, factoring in the challenges arising from geopolitical developments and financial market volatility.

Sitharaman addressed and interacted with the directors of the Central Board after the board meeting.

The Finance Minister articulated the strategic vision of the Union Budget 2026-27, which was inspired by the three Kartavyas, and delineated expectations from the financial sector toward achieving its goal of Viksit Bharat.

The directors expressed their appreciation for the Budget and shared their perspectives.

She was accompanied by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Arunish Chawla, Department of Expenditure Secretary V Vualnam, Department of Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava, and Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran.

Deputy Governors T Rabi Sankar, Swaminathan J., Poonam Gupta, Shirish Chandra Murmu and other Directors of the Central Board - Department of Financial Services Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur were also present.

Other directors who attended the meeting were Satish K. Marathe, S Gurumurthy, Revathy Iyer, Sachin Chaturvedi, Venu Srinivasan, Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel and Ravindra H. Dholakia. PTI DP JD HVA

Gold import monitoring: government and RBI flag a recent import spike while keeping external account risks in check. The government and the Reserve Bank of India are monitoring gold imports after a sudden January surge in value and volume; the RBI is analysing data, attributes part of the rise to global central bank purchases and domestic seasonal demand, and considers the situation not yet alarming while noting the current account remains manageable and external-sector resilience intact.