The government on Wednesday rejected a media report which had claimed that the Reserve Bank of India may have sold around $12 billion worth of gold reserves, in response to the fallout of the Middle East conflict.
The report alleged that the RBI had offloaded a substantial part of its gold holdings during the two weeks ending May 22 in order to shield its foreign currency assets from geopolitical jitters.
The Press Information Bureau, however, has posted on X that the claim was inconsistent with publicly disclosed RBI data. It has subsequently called the report 'fake'.
According to latest data available in RBI, the share of gold in India's forex reserves have risen consistency - from 13.92% at end September 2025 to 16.7% as of March 31, 2026. It rose further to 16.85% as of May 22, 2026 - the period mentioned in the original report.
The PIB also noted that the physical stock of gold held by the RBI is disclosed in its Monthly Bulletin, the latest edition of which is available on the RBI website, and that the status remains unchanged as of date. The figure has been clarified by the Reserve Bank of India as well.
Reacting to the fact check, market veteran Ajay Bagga said the report was published in bad taste and that the state of the Indian economy remains resilient.
"The RBI has clarified that India's Gold holdings remain constant. The backdrop is 1991, when India had to mortgage its Gold holdings to ensure FX lines. India of 2026 is a much stronger economy with a lot of depth. This article was not in good taste and a clarification should have been sought from the RBI before publishing it," he said.
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