RBI Clarifies Gold Reserve Position, Denies Any Sale Of Holdings

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India rejected claims that the Central Bank has sold part of its gold reserves to safeguard the country's foreign exchange assets. RBI also urged the public to rely on information published through its official channels, including the RBI Monthly Bulletin, which regularly discloses the country's physical gold holdings.

In its clarification shared on June 3 2026 Central Bank said, "The Reserve Bank of India has come across reports in certain sections of the media about RBI’s sale of gold. The RBI emphasizes that these reports are not correct. In this context, it is clarified that the physical stock of gold is disclosed by RBI in its Monthly Bulletin. Members of the public are, therefore, advised to rely on official information published by RBI from time to time in such matters."

If further stated that the latest edition is available on the RBI website and the physical stock of gold remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes as on date.

This clarification came after a media report published a day earlier, which suggested that the central bank may have reduced its gold holdings amid market volatility linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. It estimated that the RBI could have sold nearly 12 bn US dollar worth of gold in the two weeks leading up to May 22. During the same period, the central bank was also estimated to have added around 7.5 bn US dollar in foreign currency assets.

The report also pointed to an apparent decline in the value of the RBI’s gold reserves despite higher import duties on the precious metal as a factor that would normally increase the valuation of gold holdings.

After this report Congress party was very quick to criticise the government, alleging that the Modi government is using the RBI to sell the country's gold reserves in an attempt to prevent the rupee from weakening further against the US dollar. Post also claims that the RBI sold nearly $12 billion worth of gold within two weeks to stop the rupee from crossing the 100-per-dollar mark and to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image.

Press Information Bureau's Fact Check unit also responded in this matter, rejecting the claim that the RBI had sold gold worth around USD 12 billion. In a statement, PIB Fact Check said that a Bloomberg report suggesting that the RBI may have sold gold amounting to approximately USD 12 billion was false.

Citing RBI data PIB noted that the share of gold in India's foreign exchange reserves increased from 13.92 percent at the end of September 2025 to 16.70 percent on March 31 2026 and further to 16.85 percent as of May 22 2026 indicating that gold's share in the reserves has continued to rise.