Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated on Friday that the country is not selling its holdings of US Treasury securities. The remarks were made during a press conference following a policy meeting.
Malhotra explained, "Our foreign exchange reserves had previously declined, so all positions experience changes." He added, "These are daily or weekly fluctuations that we publicly report, but there has been no reduction in our US Treasury holdings."
According to US government data released in January, India's holdings of US long-term bonds fell to a five-year low of $174 billion by November. This represents a 26% decline from the 2023 peak, as the Indian central bank intervened to support the weakening rupee.
In October, the Reserve Bank of India committed to supporting the local currency to curb speculative attacks. Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that India's foreign exchange reserves decreased by $10.5 billion that month. The decline continued into November, with reserves dropping further to $686.2 billion, before rebounding to a record high of $723.8 billion last week.