RBI dismisses gold sale rumours; physical reserves stand steady at 880.52 tonnes

The Reserve Bank of India has dismissed reports suggesting it liquidated USD 12 billion in gold to defend forex reserves. The RBI confirmed physical gold stocks remain unchanged at 880.52 tonnes, despite severe macro pressures on the rupee

Mumbai: Debunking reports of gold sale, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said there is no change in the physical stock of gold, which remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes.

The clarification from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) comes following reports that the RBI may have sold gold amounting to approximately USD 12 billion to shield its foreign-currency reserves from the impact of the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

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“The RBI emphasises that these reports are not correct,” the central bank said in a statement.

Members of the public are, therefore, advised to rely on official information published by the RBI from time to time in such matters, it said.

Meanwhile, the Press Information Bureau also published a fact-check on the reports.

According to RBI, the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose from 13.92 per cent at the end of September 2025 to 16.70 per cent on March 31, 2026, and further to 16.85 per cent as of May 22, 2026, it said.

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, an increase of 0.94 metric tonnes of gold in the year.

“Of the 880.52 metric tonnes, 312.32 metric tonnes of gold is held as an asset of the Issue Department as compared to 311.38 metric tonnes as on March 31, 2025,” RBI in its latest annual report said.

The remaining 568.20 metric tonnes, same as on March 31, 2025, is treated as an asset of the Banking Department, it said.

“The value of gold (including gold deposits) held as an asset of Banking Department increased by 63.6 per cent from Rs 4,31,624.80 crore as on March 31, 2025, to Rs 7,06,162.36 crore as on March 31, 2026,” it said, and added the increase was due to an increase in the price of gold and depreciation of INR vis-à-vis USD.

RBI ususally uses its forex reserve to check undue volatility in value of rupee against dollar.

The rupee settled at a record closing low of 96.86 against the USD on May 20, 2026, dropping 33 paise from its previous close.

Once considered among Asia’s more stable currencies, the rupee has now become one of the worst-performing emerging market currencies this year, pressured by a toxic mix of expensive oil, capital outflows, widening trade deficits and a surging US dollar.

It has depreciated about 7 per cent so far in 2026 and is down roughly 6 per cent since the outbreak of the Iran conflict in late February.

The value of rupee against the dollar was 89.94 at the opening trade and closed at 89.98 on the first day of the calendar year.

India’s forex reserves dropped USD 7.511 billion to USD 681.384 billion during the week ended May 22.

The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year before the onset of the Middle East conflict that led to several weeks of a drop as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales.

India’s forex reserve stood at USD 686.801 billion in the week to January 2, 2026.