FACTBOX - Asian central banks take divergent views on gold

Reuters - The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold's ascent.

The sale, which surprised traders who expected China to be the leading buyer, will relieve the gold market of some uncertainty over how and when the IMF would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock.

The following Asian countries have been pondering whether to boost gold as a percentage of their overall reserves.

CHINA

China disclosed on April 24 that it had increased its holdings of gold to 1,054 tonnes from 600 tonnes since 2003. Researchers with the ruling Communist Party have said that China should buy more gold to boost its holdings. China's foreign exchange reserves have grown so fast over the years that gold's share as a percentage of the reserves has shrunk.

However, a debate is swirling in China about how the country can reduce its exposure to the dollar and to U.S. assets in case America's ultra-loose fiscal and monetary policy rekindles inflation and erodes the value of the dollar and U.S. Treasuries.

INDIA