No proposal to restrict gold holding by individuals: Finance Ministry

The government is not considering any proposal to restrict holding of gold by individuals, a top finance ministry source said on Friday.

Following the demonetization of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a bid to crack down on black money, there were apprehensions among people that the government might impose some kind of restrictions on gold holding by individuals. "There is no such proposal before the government on restricting domestic gold holding," the source said.

There were reports that many people have converted their black money into gold following the announcement of demonetization of high denomination currency notes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. The government had earlier denied that there was any move to digitise personal lockers in banks amid rumours in social media that they would be opened in only in the presence of revenue officials.