Bloomberg Retracts Its Report That Said RBI May Have Sold Gold
New Delhi: Bloomberg said on Thursday, June 4, that it is retracting its story about the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) possibly having offloaded gold deposits as a response to the fallout of the war in West Asia. It said Bloomberg Economics, which researched the story, mistook a valuation effect caused by gold-price movements for an actual change in the amount of gold held by the RBI, which is why it was retracting the earlier story. It said that story was "incorrect".
A day after the Bloomberg report, on Wednesday (June 3), the RBI had denied it offloaded gold holdings to shield foreign-currency assets. However, many argued that it did not appear to have cited the relevant data in its clarification and that the full picture may only emerge when RBI releases its data for the entire month of May.
Bloomberg Economics' retracted report was based on publicly available data that appeared to show RBI likely sold gold reserves worth roughly $12 billion in the two weeks through May 22, while buying $7.5 billion of foreign-currency assets. Its senior India economist, Abhishek Gupta, had said the fall was despite a hike in import duties on the precious metal, which should have boosted the value of the bank’s bullion and dollars, thereby suggesting that the RBI was selling gold.
But it has clarified that BE used the same day's Indian gold price data to calculate the value of the reserves, whereas the RBI uses the previous day's London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) gold price. Because gold prices fluctuate, using the wrong benchmark made it look as though the RBI had bought or sold gold. A recalculation using the right benchmark showed the holdings remained unchanged in May, Bloomberg also said in the retracted piece.
The RBI had said BE's analysis was “not correct”, pointing to data showing that its physical stock of gold has remained unchanged. “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come across reports in certain sections of the media about RBI's sale of gold. The RBI emphasises that these reports are not correct,” it said in the statement.
Data released by the RBI showed that the central bank's gold reserves had increased marginally from 879.58 tonnes as of the week ended May 2, 2025. In the week ended March 20, 2026, it increased to 880.34 tonnes, was steady at 880.52 tonnes untill April 24. The data up to the end of March shows that RBI held about 77% of its gold locally, up from 66% in September 2025.
RBI's clarification needs more detail
The RBI has cited data from its Bulletin in its clarification, but that has numbers only till April 24, 2026. It would appear that data relevant to the Bloomberg report – the two weeks through May 22 – does not appear in the list. This, below, is the data the central bank has cited:
Analysts have also noted a fall in the value of gold the RBI holds, as recorded in its assets and liabilities sheet for May. The fall is to the tune of Rs 46,156 crore between May 15 and 22, 2026.
The price of gold in this period was more or less constant, leading to conclusions of a sale of gold, which RBI denied. Many have raised concerns regarding this, and said the data for the days after April 24 must be released by the RBI.
Meanwhile, the Press Information Bureau also published a fact-check on the report. According to RBI, the share of gold in India's foreign exchange reserves rose from 13.92%t at the end of September 2025 to 16.70% on March 31, 2026, and further to 16.85% as of May 22, 2026, it said.
India has been facing pressure due to capital outflows amid higher oil prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
As the world’s third-largest oil importer, it has been burning through foreign currency as the West Asia conflict drags on and increases its energy bill, while taking the Indian currency to an all-time low.
Note: This report has been updated with the news of Bloomberg's retraction.
This article went live on June third, two thousand twenty six, at fifty-one minutes past three in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
