In a swift and coordinated pushback against market speculation, the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have firmly dismissed media reports claiming the central bank sold gold to shore up its foreign exchange reserves.
The clarification arrived after a widely circulated Bloomberg Economics analysis suggested the RBI had quietly offloaded roughly $12 billion worth of bullion over a two-week period ending May 22. The report hypothesized the move was an unconventional attempt to protect liquid foreign-currency assets and defend the rupee from geopolitical shocks in West Asia.
Terming the claims entirely “incorrect” and “fake,” both the central bank and the Press Information Bureau (PIB) issued public refutations to calm domestic market sentiment.
1. The Anatomy of the Rumor: What Bloomberg Claimed
The controversy was sparked by a note from Bloomberg Economics senior India economist Abhishek Gupta. The analysis argued that a sudden drop in the dollar value of the RBI’s gold holdings—despite recent hikes in gold import duties—indicated that the central bank was actively selling physical bullion to pivot into more liquid cash.
According to the speculative report:
- The Alleged Liquidation: The RBI reportedly offloaded $12 billion in gold across the middle of May.
- The Cash Pivot: Concurrently, the bank allegedly purchased $7.5 billion in liquid foreign-currency assets.
- The Strategic Intent: The analysis claimed policymakers were aggressively prioritizing liquid dollars to intervene in the currency markets, shielding the rupee against sustained capital outflows and rising oil prices resulting from maritime tensions in the Middle East.
2. Fact Check: Physical Gold Reserves Remain Unchanged
The Reserve Bank of India broke its standard silence on market commentary to issue an explicit press release rejecting the report’s methodology. “The RBI emphasizes that these reports are not correct,” the statement read, adding a firm directive that the public should rely strictly on official data.
The central bank and the Ministry of Finance dismantled the claims using verified accounting indicators:
- Constant Physical Stock: The RBI confirmed that its physical stock of gold “remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes as on date,” flatly contradicting the narrative of a mass offloading.
- Rising Share in Reserves: Backing the denial, the PIB Fact Check team published data proving that gold’s share within India’s overall foreign exchange reserves has actually been on an upward trajectory.
- The Reserve Trajectory: Gold’s portion of the forex basket rose from 13.92% at the end of September 2025 to 16.70% by March 31, 2026, and climbed even further to 16.85% as of May 22, 2026—the exact window Bloomberg claimed a sell-off occurred.
“According to the RBI, the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose… further to 16.85% as of May 22, 2026. The physical stock of gold is disclosed by the RBI in its monthly bulletin and remains unchanged as of date.” — PIB Fact Check official statement.
3. Annual Report Data Validates Gold Accumulation
The timing of the rumor ran directly into data released in the RBI’s Annual Report for 2025–26. The formal audit showed that the central bank spent the last fiscal year actively buying gold rather than liquidating it.
As of March 31, 2026, the RBI’s cumulative gold holdings stood at 880.52 metric tonnes, up from the 879.58 metric tonnes recorded on March 31, 2025. This net increase of 0.94 metric tonnes over the year underscores a long-term central banking playbook focused on diversifying macro reserves away from heavy dollar reliance—a strategy mirrored by major global central banks navigating macroeconomic fragmentation.
Of the current 880.52-tonne reserve, 312.32 tonnes are maintained locally as assets of the Issue Department, while the remaining 568.20 tonnes are managed under the Banking Department. Furthermore, a notable shift has seen the RBI bring more of its asset base home; by late March, 77% of India’s total gold reserves were securely stored within domestic vaults, up from 66% just six months prior, with residual safety deposits kept overseas at the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.