New High
RBI's net outstanding forward dollar sales rise more to $58.9 billion as on Nov 30
This story was originally published at 11:33 IST on 1 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – The Reserve Bank of India's net outstanding sales of dollar/rupee forward contracts climbed to a new high of $58.85 billion at the end of November, $9.67 billion higher from a month ago, data from the central bank showed.
The continued rise in the central bank's outstanding forward dollar sales--they had surged by a whopping $34.60 billion in October--coincides with a big ramp-up in the RBI's defence of the rupee through aggressive dollar sales in the offshore non-deliverable forwards market after spot sales took their toll on rupee liquidity in the Indian banking system. The RBI has also been conducting continuous buy/sell swaps--buying dollars for immediate delivery and selling them for a forward date--to limit the strain on systemic liquidity.
In November, the RBI not only rolled over its $28.18 billion worth of short forward positions maturing in one month but added another $4.22 billion worth of short positions in this segment. In the one-three month segment, the RBI added $5.70 billion worth of short positions to its October-end net short position of $21.00 billion. Its position in forwards maturing in more than three months remained zero.
The net position of the RBI's forward book is the difference between its outstanding gross purchases and gross sales of forward contracts. At the end of November, the central bank's gross long positions in its forward book stood at $250 million after staying at zero for five consecutive months.
The Indian rupee fell 0.5% against the US dollar in November as the dollar index strengthened following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. Weakening of the Chinese yuan and outflows from Indian financial markets also exerted pressure on the rupee, although the RBI actively intervened to prevent a sharp depreciation, according to dealers.
| NOVEMBER | TOTAL | UP TO 1 MONTH | 1-3 MONTHS | 3 MONTHS-1 YEAR | MORE THAN 1 YEAR |
| Short positions | 59,100 | 32,400 | 26,700 | 0 | 0 |
| (+9,920) | (+4,220) | (+5,700) | (0) | (0) | |
| Long positions | 250 | 0 | 250 | 0 | 0 |
| (+250) | (0) | (+250) | (0) | (0) | |
| Net (long-short) | -58,850 | -32,400 | -26,450 | 0 | 0 |
* Net change from the previous month in parentheses. All figures are in $ million.
End
US$1 = INR 85.70
Reported by Pratiksha
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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