I don’t think any of these Qs makes sense.
Here’s my take on them…
In one sense, Obviously yes. Every rupee in SGB is one less rupee in actual gold.
Practically, not sure if one can accurately measure…
- …what impact SGB itself has had in encouraging investment into SGB.
- …what could have happened if SGB did NOT exist.
Again, obviously yes.
What might be mildly interesting is the volume of actual gold being purchased by individuals.
But what’s the point? Is the aggregate of individuals’ gold purchases even significant / comparable to the volumes of the gold being traded for other purposes (industrial, financial, …)?
That’s not how sovereign debt works.
Govt. isn’t into earning directly to repay its debt.
Rather economic growth is the target.
In fact increasing Govt. debt might even be desirable as a “shock absorber” under certain scenarios.
All things considered,
IMHO, the existence (and adoption) of SGBs
has established an additional lever for fine-grained control over
the economic impact of Gold to the nation’s economy.