RBI's gross sales of dollars at $ 23.11 billion in August

18 Oct 2022 , 09:15 AM

In an effort to stop the rupee’s decline against the US dollar in August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold $23.11 billion on a gross basis, according to statistics provided on October 17 by the central bank. This comes after a record-breaking July in which the RBI sold a whopping $38.77 billion, again on a gross basis, to defend the exchange rate during a month in which it first crossed the 80-per-dollar threshold.

According to data released today, the RBI sold $4.25 billion in August after selling $19.05 billion on a net basis in July. The Indian rupee declined by almost 1.2 % between July and August despite the RBI’s frequent interventions in the foreign exchange market recently.

The Indian rupee has since fallen even more and to fresh record lows, closing at 82.3 to the dollar on October 17. The administration is under further pressure as a result, but Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mounted a defense over the weekend, claiming that the US currency had strengthened rather than the rupee weakening.

The rupee has lost value against the dollar so far in 2022 by a little under 10%. The RBI was active in the forward market in addition to the spot market, where it intervened, with its outstanding net forward book falling by $1.86 billion in August to $20.16 billion as of August 31. At the beginning of FY23, the RBI’s outstanding net forward book was $65.79 billion.

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