How India’s 25,000 tonnes of household gold acts as an economic buffer

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Family gold holdings, now valued at almost 80% of GDP, are supporting consumption, lending, and foreign money stability amid international uncertainty.

India’s huge family gold stockpile, estimated at round 25,000 tonnes, has emerged as an important macroeconomic shock absorber, serving to assist foreign money stability, monetary resilience, and family consumption at a time of heightened international uncertainty, in line with IIFL Capital’s Outlook 2026.

The report estimates that the market worth of family gold is now near 80 per cent of India’s GDP, reflecting many years of accumulation and a pointy surge in gold costs over the previous yr. This latent wealth, IIFL Capital mentioned, gives an vital buffer for the economic system in periods of stress.

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“Consumption has been supported by tax cuts, and development ought to revert to regular ranges,” the report famous. “Indian households maintain round 25,000 tonnes of gold, and the proportion used as collateral stays very low.”

The evaluation highlighted that gold-backed lending has important headroom for development, given the restricted use of family gold as collateral to this point. This creates scope for secured lending to households, which may help stabilise demand when revenue development slows or borrowing prices rise.

“Lending is to not the mixture economic system however to households,” the report mentioned, including that the dimensions of gold collateral on the economy-wide stage strengthens the prospects for sustained family consumption.

The report additionally identified that the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) stepped up its gold purchases in 2025, coinciding with a powerful rally in international gold costs, reinforcing confidence in gold as a strategic asset.

In accordance with IIFL Capital, family gold acts as “latent capital” accessible in occasions of stress however not totally drawn down throughout financial upswings thereby enhancing India’s monetary resilience and cushioning the economic system in opposition to exterior shocks corresponding to unstable capital flows and foreign money pressures.

As international uncertainty persists, the report means that India’s deep-rooted gold financial savings tradition continues to play a quiet however crucial position in underpinning macroeconomic stability.

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