Central bank to check on its gold stash

The Reserve Bank of Australia will physically audit its gold stocks this year, for the first time since 2013.

Australia owns 80 tonnes of gold, worth about four billion dollars, which is stored at the United Kingdom's Bank of England.

RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle has told a parliamentary committee the authority leases gold to other countries but it rarely leaves the vault.

That's because moving gold reduces its weight and therefore its value.

"Absolute minute fragments come off," Mr Debelle said.

The RBA's holdings were last weighed in 2013 and are checked every six years, meaning it will be audited again this year.

The authority says it has no intention to buy (more) or sell any of its holdings.