Overview
- The Reserve Bank of India issued a denial on Wednesday saying reports of a roughly $12 billion gold sale were not correct and that its physical gold stock remains 880.52 tonnes.
- The government’s Press Information Bureau labelled the Bloomberg-linked claim fake and cited RBI data showing gold’s share of foreign exchange reserves rose to 16.85% as of May 22.
- Bloomberg Economics published an alternative analysis that inferred about $12 billion of gold was sold while roughly $7.5 billion of foreign-currency assets were added in the two weeks to May 22.
- Reserve specialists say the apparent shift can be explained by mark-to-market accounting, where changes in global gold prices and exchange rates alter the dollar value of holdings without any physical sale.
- The episode highlights active reserve management as India faces higher oil costs and rupee pressure, and officials urged markets to rely on RBI monthly bulletins and official releases for accurate reserve data.