'Fake, incorrect': Govt dismisses report of RBI selling $12 billion gold to save forex reserves

The government on Wednesday debunked media reports suggesting that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might have sold gold amounting to around $12 billion to bolster the nation's foreign exchange reserves. The clarification came after Bloomberg reported that the central bank is likely to have reduced part of its gold holdings to protect its foreign currency reserves. 

According to Bloomberg, the central bank may have reduced part of its gold holdings to protect its foreign currency reserves due to the ongoing war in West Asia.

The central bank dismissed these reports, saying in a press release, "The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come across reports in certain sections of the media about RBI’s sale of gold. The RBI emphasises that these reports are not correct."

The RBI added that the physical stock of gold remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes as of June 3. "Members of the public are, therefore, advised to rely on official information published by the RBI from time to time in such matters."

Moreover, the Press Information Bureau posted a fact-check of the report, calling it "fake". The PIB said in its post that the share of gold in India's forex reserves went up from 13.92 per cent at end-September 2025 to 16.70 per cent on March 31, 2026 and further rose to 16.85 per cent as of May 22, 2026. 

It also mentioned that the RBI shares details on the physical stock of gold in its monthly bulletin and that it remains unchanged to date. 

It mentioned that the RBI likely sold gold reserves worth roughly $12 billion during the two weeks ending May 22 while purchasing $7.5 billion in foreign currency assets. It further stated that the RBI's actions in the forex market likely supported the rupee, causing it to perform better than most Asian currencies since May 20. 

The Bloomberg report also mentioned that by March-end, the RBI held 880.52 metric tonnes of gold, with 77% of those holdings stored in India. Six months back, 66 per cent of the gold reserves were held domestically. According to the RBI's half-yearly forex report released in April, most of the central bank's overseas gold holdings are with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.