Responding to IANS, the former Finance Minister said, "There is nothing wrong in bringing gold kept abroad into the country's coffers.
When the former finance minister was asked how the move would help the economy, he said, "Our gold is in the London vault. It is being brought back to the Indian vault. It doesn't make any difference to me."
However, according to economist Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, most countries keep their gold in the vaults of the Bank of England or other such places (and pay a fee for the privilege).
"India will now keep most of its gold in its own vaults. We have come a long way since we had to send gold overnight amid the crisis in 1991," he was quoted in reports as saying.
According to him, the gold export failure in 1990–91 was a moment that "we will never forget".
"That's why this return shipping of the gold has a special meaning," he explained.
In 1991, the country was in the grip of a serious foreign crisis and had no money to pay for essential imports.
The then Chandrashekhar government had mortgaged gold to raise funds. RBI pledged 46.91 tonnes of gold with the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan to secure $400 million.
As of March 31, the central bank held 822.10 tonnes of gold as part of its foreign exchange reserves.
When the former finance minister was asked how the move would help the economy, he said, "Our gold is in the London vault. It is being brought back to the Indian vault. It doesn't make any difference to me."
However, according to economist Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, most countries keep their gold in the vaults of the Bank of England or other such places (and pay a fee for the privilege).
"India will now keep most of its gold in its own vaults. We have come a long way since we had to send gold overnight amid the crisis in 1991," he was quoted in reports as saying.
According to him, the gold export failure in 1990–91 was a moment that "we will never forget".
"That's why this return shipping of the gold has a special meaning," he explained.
In 1991, the country was in the grip of a serious foreign crisis and had no money to pay for essential imports.
The then Chandrashekhar government had mortgaged gold to raise funds. RBI pledged 46.91 tonnes of gold with the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan to secure $400 million.
As of March 31, the central bank held 822.10 tonnes of gold as part of its foreign exchange reserves.
