India sold $31.98 billion to defend its Rupee in Jan-Oct 2025

Aimed at stabilising the Indian rupee amid persistent global and domestic pressures, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold dollars to the tune of $31.98 billion on a net basis during the first 10 months of 2025.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

This marks a sharp turnaround from a net purchase of $23.03 billion in the January-October period of 2024.The intervention underscores the central bank's efforts to curb excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market at a time of a strong US dollar, shifting global capital flows and uncertainty over interest rate trajectories.

Despite these interventions, the rupee depreciated by 3.3 percent between January and October 2025, compared with a 2.2 percent decline in the corresponding period of 2024, reflecting the continued impact of external headwinds even as the RBI sought to smooth movements in the currency rather than defend any specific level.

According to latest RBI data, during the first 10 months of 2025, the central bank sold $207.96 billion worth of dollars on a gross basis, signalling higher spot forex interventions to manage rupee volatility.

This marks a sharp 35 percent jump from $154.5 billion sold in January-October 2024. The average monthly dollar sales by the RBI was close to $21 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, compared to $15.45 billion in 2024.