On 4th June (Thursday), the American news agency, Bloomberg, informed that it had to withdraw a false article regarding the purported sale of gold valued in the billions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to improve foreign-currency assets owing to the Iran war. It blamed “incorrect analysis by Bloomberg Economics” for the grave transgression.
“Bloomberg News retracted a story published June 2 that was based off an incorrect analysis by Bloomberg Economics. The analysis erroneously used same-day domestic gold prices to value RBI’s gold reserves. Using previous day’s London Bullion Market Association price shows that gold holdings were unchanged in May,” read the retraction published by its South Asia Executive Editor, Jeanette Rodrigues.
Bloomberg has retracted a post on X based off an inaccurate Bloomberg Economics report https://t.co/XtCWbLM03p https://t.co/JrW6Pymib4
— Bloomberg (@business) June 4, 2026
The RBI strongly rejected the claim made by Bloomberg and taken up by the Indian media, maintaining that its actual gold holdings remain at 880.52 metric tonnes. “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 mentioned. The public was instructed by the central bank to rely on its official Monthly Bulletin for confirmed data that reveals the actual gold stock.
The rebuttal was issued just one day after the Bloomberg Economics story alleged that the regulatory body might have sold $12 billion worth of gold to support foreign exchange assets. The US-Iran confrontation, which had driven Brent crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, devalued the rupee to about 97 per dollar, and caused capital outflows, was cited in the piece as the reason for the supposed action.
However, RBI confirmed that “the physical stock of gold remains unchanged at 880.52 tonnes as on date.” According to its Monthly Bulletin dated May 22, 2026 covering data up to April 24, gold holdings have remained stable at 880.52 metric tonnes. As of April 24, 2026, the value of these reserves stood at ₹11,33,076 crore (approximately $120,236 million). The data showed that RBI’s gold holding was 880.34 metric tonnes on 27th March, which went up to 880.52 metric tonnes on 3rd April, which showed marginal increase in the gold holdings of the central bank, and there is no decline in the volume of gold stock.
This forms part of India’s total foreign exchange reserves of ₹65,82,387 crore ($698,487 million) on 24 April. The bulletin showed only minor fluctuations in rupee and dollar values due to market price movements, with the physical volume holding steady week after week. The facts emerged, leading Bloomberg to withdraw the fictitious report, claiming that “erroneous analysis” was responsible for it.
