RBI rejects reports of gold reserve sale, says physical stock unchanged at 880.52 tonnes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, June 3, dismissed media reports suggesting that it had sold a portion of its gold reserves to shore up foreign-currency assets amid pressure on the rupee, asserting that its physical gold holdings remain unchanged at 880.52 tonnes.

In a clarification, the central bank said it had come across reports in "certain sections of the media" regarding RBI's sale of gold and emphasised that such reports were incorrect.

"The RBI emphasizes that these reports are not correct," the central bank said in a statement.

What the media report suggested

The clarification came after a Bloomberg Economics analysis suggested that the RBI may have sold part of its gold reserves in May to protect its foreign-exchange assets from the fallout of the conflict in the Middle East.

According to the report, the RBI likely sold gold reserves worth about USD 12 billion in the two weeks through May 22 while purchasing USD 7.5 billion worth of foreign-currency assets.

The report argued that a decline in the value of the RBI's gold holdings despite higher import duties on the precious metal indicated possible sales of bullion by the central bank.

The analysis linked the purported sales to efforts by policymakers to manage pressures arising from capital outflows, elevated crude oil prices and weakness in the rupee amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

The RBI clarified that the physical stock of gold is disclosed in its monthly bulletin and that the physical stock of gold "remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes as on date".

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

What latest RBI monthly bulletin shows

The latest edition of the RBI's monthly bulletin, cited by the central bank in its clarification, shows that India's gold reserves stood at 880.52 metric tonnes as of April 24, 2026.

According to the data, the physical stock of gold remained unchanged at 880.52 tonnes from April 3 through April 24.

The value of the holdings, however, fluctuated in line with movements in international gold prices and exchange rates.

To be sure, the monthly bulletin contains foreign exchange reserve data only up to April 24, 2026, while the Bloomberg Economics analysis relates to the two weeks ended May 22.

Forex reserve status

The RBI's weekly statistical supplement, published on May 29, showed that India's foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 7.51 billion to USD 681.38 billion for the week ended May 22.

The reserves had stood at USD 688.89 billion a week earlier.

Foreign currency assets, the largest component of the reserves, dropped by USD 2.87 billion to USD 543.03 billion during the week, while gold reserves declined by USD 4.53 billion to USD 114.79 billion.

On a year-on-year basis, the country's foreign exchange reserves were lower by USD 11.34 billion.