New Delhi: The Centre has dismissed reports by a news agency claiming that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may have sold $12 billion worth of gold to support the rupee amid a sharp currency decline.
The government’s PIB Fact Check handle termed the claim “fake” and cited RBI data showing that gold’s share in India’s foreign exchange reserves has in fact increased.
The share of gold in forex reserves rose from 13.92% at the end of September 2025 to 16.70% as of March 31, 2026, and further to 16.85% as of May 22, 2026, RBI has claimed, as reported by The Economic Times.
The response came after a Bloomberg report, citing Bloomberg Economics (BE) data, stating that India’s central bank may have offloaded a portion of its gold holdings to shield its foreign-currency assets from the cascading fallout of the war in the Middle East.
“The Reserve Bank of India likely sold gold reserves worth roughly $12 billion in the two weeks through May 22, while buying $7.5 billion of foreign-currency assets,” BE’s senior India economist, Abhishek Gupta, wrote.
The fall came despite a hike in import duties on the precious metal, which should have boosted the value of the bank’s bullion and dollars. This suggests the RBI was selling gold, the report added.
The purported sales underscore policymakers’ concerns about the pressure India is facing from sustained capital outflows and higher oil prices as the Iran war and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz drag on. They also show the RBI is prioritising reserves of liquid foreign currency as a wider current-account deficit weighs on the rupee, the Bloomberg report said.
By the end of March, the central bank held 880.52 metric tons of gold, of which 77% was held domestically, the report says. Six months earlier, it kept 66% of its gold locally. Most of its overseas holdings are with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements, the RBI said in its half-yearly foreign exchange report in April.
“As on March 31, 2026, total gold held by the Reserve Bank was 880.52 metric tonnes as compared to 879.58 metric tonnes as on March 31, 2025, reflecting an increase of 0.94 metric tonnes of gold in the year,” the RBI Annual Report states.
This data indicates that the RBI added to its gold reserves during FY26 rather than reducing them. The report further notes that of the total 880.52 metric tonnes of gold held by the central bank, 312.32 metric tonnes were maintained as assets of the Issue Department, while the remaining 568.20 metric tonnes were held under the Banking Department.
