A decision by the Reserve Bank of India to buy 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF for $6.7 billion does not reflect a preference for the How to invest in gold metal over the dollar, the finance minister said Tuesday. The International Monetary Fund kicked off its planned sale of more than 400 tonnes of gold with an announcement Monday that it had sold almost half to India, the world's biggest gold consumer, at near-record prices. The purchase "doesn't mean we don't prefer the dollar any more or like gold any better," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi. Some analysts expect central banks around the world to diversify their holdings and purchase more gold as a shield against a weakening dollar. [Note: It will be real interesting to see what other countries start buying up gold.]