BEIJING, April 7 (Reuters) - China's central bank stayed the course on gold purchases for a 17th consecutive month, data from the People's Bank of ‌China (PBOC) showed on Tuesday. The country's gold holdings rose to 74.38 million fine troy ounces by the end of March from the previous month's 74.22 million. The gold reserves' value fell to $342.76 billion at ⁠the end of last month, down from $387.59 billion a month earlier, data from PBOC showed. The drop marked the first decline in the value of China's gold reserves since May 2025, reflecting the steepest monthly fall in the price of gold since 2008, with spot gold dropping 11.52%.