'Fake': Centre Debunks Report Claiming RBI Sold Gold To Shore Up Forex

The Centre has debunked a recent media report claiming that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold gold to save forex reserve. The fact-check came after a Bloomberg report, quoting sources, claimed that the RBI may have sold gold amounting to approximately $12 billion.

Countering the claim, the Centre specified that the share of gold in India's foreign exchange reserves has actually risen "from 13.92 per cent at end-September 2025 to 16.70 per cent on March 31, 2026, and further to 16.85 per cent as of May 22, 2026".

The clarification added, "The physical stock of gold is also disclosed by RBI in its Monthly Bulletin... For authentic information, always visit the RBI's official website."

Abhishek Gupta, Senior India Economist at Bloomberg Economics, had made an assessment that RBI sold gold worth around $12 billion in the two weeks through May 22, while purchasing about $7.5 billion of foreign-currency assets.

The ​RBI said in a statement its physical stock ​of the precious ​metal remains unchanged at 880.52 ‌tonnes. "The RBI 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," the ⁠central ​bank said.

RBI Report On Bank Deposits

Meanwhile, RBI, earlier this week, released data showing the composition of bank deposits in India has undergone a significant shift over the past five years. It showed that savers are increasingly moving their money from low-yield savings accounts to higher-return term deposits.

According to the RBI's latest data, the share of savings deposits in aggregate bank deposits declined sharply to 28.7% in March 2026 from 34.6% in March 2022. In contrast, the share of term deposits rose from 55.2% to 61.6% during the same period.

Speaking on the data, Sarvjeet  Singh Virk, CEO of jUMPP, said, "The decline in savings account balances to 28.7% reflects a clear shift in how Indian households are managing idle money. This is not necessarily a move towards riskier products, but towards more return-conscious and disciplined allocation. For decades, savings accounts were the default place to park surplus cash. Today, users are realising the opportunity cost of leaving money idle, especially when fixed deposits offer better returns with the comfort of safety."

He added, "This shift is also being enabled by digital adoption. UPI processed 23.2 billion transactions worth Rs 29.90 lakh crore in May 2026, showing how comfortable Indians have become with digital financial behaviour. At the same time, RBI data shows term deposits remain dominant, supported by attractive rates, especially in the one-to-three-year maturity bucket. The mindset has moved from simply keeping money accessible to making even safe money work harder."