The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has categorically refuted numerous reports circulating in the media and on social media claiming that the central bank has sold a portion of its gold reserves to bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Issuing an official statement, the RBI clarified that the nation’s physical gold stock remains entirely secure and has not undergone any depletion.
Refuting Misleading Reports
Issuing a clarification on June 3, 2026, the central bank stated, “It has come to the notice of the Reserve Bank that reports regarding the RBI selling gold are being aired in certain sections of the media. We wish to clarify that these reports are completely incorrect and baseless.”
The RBI noted that, as of the current date, the country’s total physical gold reserves remain stable at 880.52 tonnes. The Bank has appealed to the general public not to place any credence in such rumors and to rely solely on the ‘Monthly Bulletin’—published every month on the RBI’s official website—to ascertain the accurate status of the nation’s gold reserves.
A news report published by @Bloomberg states that RBI may have sold gold amounting to approximately USD 12 billion.#PIBFactCheck
❌ This claim is FAKE
✔️ According to @RBI, the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose from 13.92% at end-September 2025 to 16.70%… pic.twitter.com/eVjxPxEv1i
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) June 3, 2026
How Did the Controversy Begin?
The entire controversy was triggered by an international media report which speculated that, amidst escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia and ongoing market volatility, the RBI had sold gold worth approximately US$ 12 billion during the last two weeks of May in an effort to stabilize the Rupee. Based on this report, political rhetoric within the country also intensified, with the main opposition party—the Congress—leveling serious allegations against the government; they claimed the government had sold the nation’s gold reserves to prevent the Rupee from breaching the 100-per-dollar mark and to salvage its own image.
PIB Fact Check Also Confirms
The government’s official agency—the PIB (Press Information Bureau) Fact Check Unit—also took swift action in this matter, declaring the report to be completely fake. Citing RBI data, the PIB pointed out that the share of gold within India’s total foreign exchange reserves has been consistently rising rather than declining. According to statistics, the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves stood at 13.92 percent at the end of September 2025; this figure rose to 16.70 percent on March 31, 2026, and further increased to 16.85 percent by May 22, 2026. Experts state that the fluctuations observed in the value of the reserves are attributable to weekly price volatility in the international gold market—a phenomenon that some individuals mistakenly interpreted as a sale of gold.
